So, the White House is claiming that a TikTok-U.S. deal will be signed off on this week, ending years of uncertainty for the platform, and for U.S. creators, by establishing a new working environment for TikTok that will alleviate Chinese government influence on the app.
Maybe.
There’s a lot of stuff being reported right now, and it’s hard to know what’s true, especially considering that the Chinese government itself isn’t saying that a deal is imminent.
But to keep you up to speed, here’s a breakdown of what the Trump Administration will reportedly sign off on this week.
According to reports, the proposed TikTok-U.S. deal, which is designed to meet the requirements of the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” will incorporate the following elements:
- TikTok’s U.S. operations will be controlled by a new joint venture, which will be majority-owned by U.S. investors
- The 7-person board of the proposed new entity will include a range of prominent U.S. business people, including Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, Dell CEO Michael Dell, and Fox Group Chairman Lachlan Murdoch
- TikTok owner Bytedance will be able to select one representative on the TikTok U.S. board.
- The U.S. government itself will not hold a seat on the board of the new entity
- TikTok U.S. will lease its algorithm from ByteDance, as opposed to the U.S. owning the algorithm outright
- Oracle will oversee the re-creation of a new, U.S. only version of TikTok’s algorithm, which Oracle will then maintain ongoing
- The U.S. Government will reportedly collect a multibillion-dollar fee from investors as part of the deal
The framework is pretty similar to what’s been floating around for some time, with President Trump first claiming to have a deal in place for TikTok back in June.
Oracle, for example, has been involved in TikTok’s U.S. data separation project for years, and has long seemed like the leading candidate to control a separate American version of the app. But the finer details, and key points of contention, have mostly evolved around algorithmic control, and diluting the influence of the app’s Chinese ownership.
That’s where the Chinese government has seemed inflexible, repeatedly noting that it will not allow a Chinese-owned business to be sold into U.S. ownership due to political pressure.
And while the White House is leaking details of the pending deal, the perspective from the CCP remains non-committal.
State media outlet “China Daily” has reported that the latest conversations between the U.S. and China on a possible deal have been “pragmatic and constructive”, though the CCP remains committed to “securing its rightful interests and growth in the long term.”
As per China Daily:
“Through the talks, China has made clear that it supports Chinese companies’ adding investment in the U.S., which the U.S. side has aimed for, while Washington should shape an inviting climate for investors, make the play fair, and achieve a win-win situation, rather than forcing a deal or blackmailing.”
That doesn’t quite sound like the slam dunk that the White House is projecting in its comments on the pending deal, while ByteDance has also put out a relatively vague statement relating to the latest extension granted by Trump which will give TikTok more time to arrange a sale in the U.S.
So it’s hard to know exactly when a U.S. TikTok deal will be finalized, or if the current framework will meet the requirements of China.
But the White House claims that a deal is imminent, with President Trump expected to approve the deal later this week.
So we may be near the end of the TikTok-U.S. saga, in a way that seemingly just meets the requirements of the law. But I’ll believe it when I see it.
