TikTok secures U.S. future with new joint venture as divestment deal closes

TikTok has finalized a long-awaited agreement that allows the short-form video platform to continue operating in the United States, ending years of legal, political, and regulatory uncertainty surrounding its Chinese ownership. The deal establishes a new U.S.-based entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, designed to comply with federal requirements that sought to separate the app’s American operations from its parent company, ByteDance.

Under the agreement, the new joint venture is majority owned and governed by non-Chinese investors, with ByteDance retaining a 19.9% minority stake. The remaining ownership is held by a consortium led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, each of which holds a 15% share. Additional investors include U.S. and international investment groups, bringing non-Chinese ownership to roughly 80%.

The transaction satisfies legislation passed in 2024 requiring ByteDance to relinquish control of TikTok’s U.S. business or face a nationwide ban. That law, upheld by the Supreme Court, was temporarily delayed after the app briefly went offline for American users in January 2025. The finalization of the deal comes just ahead of enforcement deadlines set by the administration of Donald Trump, who publicly welcomed the outcome.

TikTok USDS Joint Venture will assume responsibility for safeguarding U.S. user data, platform security, and content moderation. American user data will be stored exclusively within Oracle’s U.S.-based cloud infrastructure, supported by third-party audits and compliance with federal cybersecurity standards. The company has also committed to ongoing source-code reviews and software assurance processes.

A central element of the agreement concerns TikTok’s recommendation algorithm, long viewed by U.S. lawmakers as the platform’s most sensitive asset. Under the new structure, the algorithm will be retrained, tested, and updated using only U.S. user data and secured within Oracle’s domestic cloud environment. While ByteDance will continue to license the algorithm, it will no longer operate or directly manage it for the U.S. market.

Industry analysts expect the shift to gradually influence content ranking and discovery for American users, though the extent of those changes remains uncertain. TikTok has indicated that interoperability will be maintained, allowing U.S. users and creators to continue accessing global content and audiences.

The new entity will be governed by a seven-member, majority-American board. TikTok’s global CEO Shou Zi Chew will serve as a director, alongside executives from Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and other U.S.-based investment firms. Adam Presser, formerly of TikTok USDS and WarnerMedia, has been appointed CEO of the joint venture, with Will Farrell named chief security officer.

Beyond TikTok itself, the safeguards established under the agreement will also apply to other ByteDance-owned apps operating in the U.S., including CapCut and Lemon8.

For TikTok’s more than 200 million U.S. users and millions of businesses that rely on the platform, the immediate impact is continuity rather than disruption. The app remains available, and no abrupt changes to features or functionality are expected in the near term.

However, key questions remain unresolved, including the valuation of TikTok’s U.S. operations and whether the new governance structure will fully satisfy long-term national security concerns. As TikTok USDS Joint Venture begins operating independently, regulators, competitors, and creators alike will be watching closely to see how the restructured platform evolves within the U.S. digital ecosystem.