TikTok Completes Agreement to Disentangle US App From International Business
TikTok completes an agreement to decouple its US app from its international operations, preserving access for 200 million US users.
TikTok has reached an agreement that formally separates its US business from its international operations, allowing the short-video platform to continue functioning in the US.
The deal comes after years of conflict between Beijing and Washington on national security issues related to ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok. US senators have long maintained that Beijing might force the company to provide American user data, a notion that ByteDance and TikTok have consistently refuted.
ByteDance was forced to sell TikTok’s US operations by January 2025, or risk a statewide ban under US legislation passed in 2024. President Donald Trump frequently postponed enforcing the law so that talks could go on. Before service was restored, TikTok went down for a short time for US customers early last year due to a legal dispute.
TikTok’s potent recommendation algorithm, which chooses what content users see, was the main point of contention during discussions. The algorithm has been licensed to TikTok’s American owners under the terms of the new agreement, and it will be retrained using solely US user data that is stored and protected locally.
TikTok said that TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a recently established company, will run the platform on its own. The board will consist of seven members, with the bulk of the directors being Americans. Adam Presser, a former WarnerMedia employee, has been named CEO.
A number of investors share ownership of the US company. In addition to ByteDance’s 19.9% investment, Oracle, Silver Lake, and Emirati tech investor MGX each own 15%. Oracle will be in charge of managing the algorithm and data security in its cloud infrastructure in the US.
The investors who own the remaining shares include affiliates of Susquehanna International Group and Michael Dell. Additionally, Shou Zi Chew, the worldwide chief executive of TikTok, will serve on the board.
Separating the US app and retraining its algorithm, according to experts, would alter how TikTok works for US users. Analysts caution that although the platform is anticipated to adhere to US standards, the app’s functionality and suggested content may vary from the worldwide version.
