ByteDance Signs Agreement to Run TikTok's US Business with Oracle and Investment Partners
ByteDance has reached an agreement to operate TikTok's US business in partnership with Oracle, MGX, and Silver Lake, who are the main investors in the venture. Oracle will be responsible for licensing and retraining TikTok's recommendation algorithm specifically on US user data. The new US version of TikTok's algorithm will be trained exclusively on American data and will function as a siloed variant, separate from the global system.
Larry Ellison, chairman of Oracle, will chair the new venture. MGX, an Abu Dhabi government investment fund, and Silver Lake, a private equity partner, have also joined the deal. Experts note that this restructuring could make TikTok safer and more robust, though it may reduce the platform's cultural relevance by smoothing its edges and moderation.
The differences between the US and international versions of TikTok may be influenced by the speed at which the US version receives new features, security updates, and platform improvements. While core features such as short videos and shopping are expected to remain, personalization might lag due to narrower data inputs. A key question remains whether TikTok will continue to be a space for experimentation or become more constrained under investor influence, potentially affecting its resonance online.
