In a dramatic turn of events that could reshape the American media and technology landscape, TikTok’s future in the United States appears to be taking a new direction—one that is as complex as it is consequential. According to Axios, TikTok’s new U.S. entity will lease its algorithm from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, under a proposed deal hammered out between the U.S. and China. This arrangement, if finalized, would sidestep the outright sale of TikTok’s underlying technology, a move previously demanded by U.S. lawmakers concerned about national security and data privacy.
The stakes are enormous. TikTok, the short-form video app with a staggering 170 million American users as of 2025 (as reported by The New York Times), has been at the center of a geopolitical tug-of-war. Congress had ordered ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok’s U.S. operations, citing fears that Chinese control could threaten American interests. But, as Axios revealed on September 22, 2025, the current plan is for ByteDance to create a duplicate copy of its famed algorithm, which would then be leased to a new joint venture. This venture is to be controlled by a U.S. investor group led by Silicon Valley heavyweights Andreessen Horowitz, Silver Lake, and Oracle.
Oracle’s role in this saga is especially noteworthy. The tech giant, co-founded and still controlled by Larry Ellison, has already been serving as TikTok’s trusted U.S. technology partner, handling American user data on its cloud servers. Now, Oracle is poised to take on a more prominent role: verifying the retraining of TikTok’s algorithm and safeguarding U.S. user data. This development is part of Oracle’s broader expansion, with its global headquarters for AI-powered healthcare, cloud infrastructure, and data security operations located in Nashville, as reported by The Tennessean on September 23, 2025. Oracle CEO Safra Katz emphasized the company’s growing influence in artificial intelligence, telling investors earlier this month, “Clearly, we had an amazing start to the year because Oracle has become the go-to place for AI workload. We have signed significant cloud contracts with the who’s who of AI including OpenAI, xAI, Meta, Nvidia, AMD and many others.”
The new TikTok board will consist of a mix of new investors, existing ByteDance investors, and one ByteDance representative. Notably, the U.S. government itself will not have an equity stake or a board seat—though both options were discussed at various points during negotiations. President Trump, who has been deeply involved in the process, is expected to sign an executive order later this week to approve the deal. In a Fox News interview aired Sunday, Trump mentioned that the investor group is likely to include Michael Dell (via BDT & MSD Partners) and the Murdoch-controlled Fox Corp. However, Axios clarified that Trump was using shorthand for these affiliations, and the exact specifics remain somewhat murky even to those close to the negotiations.
While the Chinese government’s approval of the lease arrangement came during a bilateral meeting in Madrid last week, the plan hasn’t been without controversy. Legislative language from Congress had specifically prohibited "cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm." Critics in Congress are expected to focus on this "cooperation," while proponents of the deal argue that the law’s intent was to prevent direct operational control, not necessarily a technical lease with oversight. The distinction is subtle but could prove pivotal in the coming political debates.
President Trump has extended his previous enforcement pause by an additional 120 days from September 22, 2025, giving both sides more time to finalize the details. The deadline for TikTok to be sold or banned had technically passed in January, but Trump has repeatedly pushed back enforcement as negotiations dragged on. Now, he’s given himself another four months to get the deal across the finish line.
As the dust settles, one thing is clear: this is not just about TikTok. It’s about the consolidation of media power in the hands of a few, and the emergence of new digital empires. Larry Ellison, now 81 years old and worth $367 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is suddenly becoming a media magnate on a scale that rivals the likes of Hearst and Pulitzer. His family’s media portfolio is rapidly expanding. His son David Ellison recently closed an $8 billion deal for Paramount and CBS and is reportedly eyeing an even bigger bid for Warner, which includes CNN. The regulatory environment, once a formidable obstacle to such consolidations, has shifted in recent years. As The New York Times noted, “This is a decidedly different era, where being in the good graces of Mr. Trump counts for a great deal.”
Powerful families have long shaped American media, but their influence was often limited by geography or technology. The Chandler family, for instance, dominated Southern California through The Los Angeles Times for decades, while Rupert Murdoch’s Fox and The Wall Street Journal have distinct editorial missions. Today, digital platforms erase those boundaries. Media historian Michael Socolow told The New York Times, “Everything is consolidating. What makes these deals different is that they are across multiple platforms. To have the opportunity to establish an editorial line across TikTok, CBS News and CNN—that’s a new world.”
Oracle’s ambitions go beyond social media and cloud computing. The company is also at the forefront of AI-powered healthcare, with Nashville as its global headquarters for these initiatives. The Tennessean reported that Oracle is signing major contracts with leading AI companies, further cementing its status as the "go-to company for AI workloads in 2025." This expansion comes as Oracle’s founder pursues philanthropic ambitions as well, with the development of the Ellison Institute of Technology at the University of Oxford. However, even this philanthropic effort has faced internal upheavals, with leadership changes and ongoing debates about its direction and commercialization strategy.
For Larry Ellison, the journey from software salesman to media baron and philanthropist has been anything but conventional. Known for his flamboyant lifestyle—owning nearly all of the Hawaiian island of Lanai and flying fighter planes for fun—Ellison has rarely shown interest in the media beyond occasional high-profile interviews. Now, however, his influence is spreading across the American media landscape, with the potential to shape editorial lines and public discourse on an unprecedented scale.
The future of TikTok in the U.S. remains uncertain, with many details of the deal still to be hammered out and potential legal challenges looming. But one thing is certain: the convergence of technology, media, and politics is accelerating, and the players at the center of this drama—Larry Ellison, President Trump, the Murdoch family, and others—are rewriting the rules of American power in real time.
As the clock ticks on TikTok’s American future, all eyes are on the unfolding negotiations. The outcome will not only determine the fate of a wildly popular app but may also signal a new era of media consolidation and technological influence in the United States.
