Oracle to manage TikTok's U.S. algorithm under Trump administration deal

Oracle will receive a copy of TikTok’s content-recommendation algorithm to operate for U.S. users, according to a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration. The arrangement is part of a framework under discussion that would require ByteDance, TikTok’s Beijing-based parent, to divest its U.S. assets to an American company in order for the app to remain available in the country.

Oracle would oversee the app’s security operations, the official said, with the algorithm fully inspected and retrained. The retraining would use U.S. data to ensure the system behaves appropriately, officials said. It remains unclear whether retraining would yield a separate TikTok experience for domestic users. There can’t be any shared algorithm with ByteDance, a spokesman for the House Select Committee on China said.

Under the preliminary terms, the U.S. operations would become a new joint venture with a board majority of American members. Oracle and private-equity firm Silver Lake are the only confirmed participants so far, and the United States would not take an equity stake nor have representation on the controlling committee. The arrangement still requires Chinese officials to sign off on a framework agreement.

White House officials said the president would sign an executive order later this week declaring that the terms of the deal meet America’s national security needs, and that Trump would issue a 120-day reprieve to allow the agreements to be finalized. Details on investors beyond Oracle and Silver Lake have not been released.

The talks occur amid ongoing political pressure over ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok. Biden-era concerns about potential manipulation of the algorithm by Chinese authorities have fueled a push for divestment or a ban, with bipartisan legislation previously enacted urging ByteDance to sell assets to an American company. The issue has been a focal point in negotiations about TikTok’s future, and officials have tied it to broader national-security checks on Chinese tech firms. Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday as part of the broader discussion that has included other high-level talks.