TikTok finds itself at the center of a whirlwind of legal, political, and commercial developments as 2025 draws to a close, with implications stretching from American courtrooms to the digital shopping carts of millions of users worldwide. The popular social media app—best known for viral dances and music trends—has lately become a battleground for national security debates, a lifeline for small businesses, and a test case for how global tech companies navigate increasingly complex regulatory landscapes.
On December 22, the Court of Appeals, Fifteenth District, issued a pivotal ruling: the ongoing case involving TikTok must proceed in the trial court, declining the company’s request to pause proceedings while its appeal is considered. According to Bloomberg Law, Chief Justice Scott Brister dissented, arguing he would have granted TikTok’s request for temporary relief. However, Justices Scott Field and April Farris voted against the pause, ensuring the legal process continues without delay. This move came after a Travis County judge denied TikTok’s initial request for relief, prompting the company to seek appellate intervention.
Meanwhile, TikTok’s corporate structure in the United States is undergoing a seismic shift. On December 23, CEO Shou Zi Chew announced in an internal memo—obtained by Benzinga and Axios—that TikTok had finalized a long-anticipated joint venture deal, transferring its U.S. operations to a new entity: TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. The deal, set to close on January 22, 2026, is designed to address persistent national security concerns surrounding TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
Under the agreement, American investors will hold a majority stake in the new venture. Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX will each own 15% of the U.S. entity, collectively controlling 45%. Affiliates of existing ByteDance investors will hold nearly a third, and ByteDance itself will retain just under 20%. As Chew wrote in his memo, the new entity will be “majority owned by American investors, governed by a new seven-member majority-American board of directors, and subject to terms that protect Americans’ data and U.S. national security.” The U.S. business is valued at $14 billion, a source confirmed to Axios, and Oracle’s shares jumped 5% in after-hours trading after the announcement.
The operational split, however, is nuanced. The joint venture will control data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance—key areas cited by lawmakers and security experts as potential vectors for foreign influence or data misuse. The memo states the entity will be responsible for “retraining the content recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data to ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation.” Yet, ByteDance will continue to oversee core commercial operations, including TikTok Shop, advertising, and marketing. As Chew clarified, “The new investors will not control core business lines—such as TikTok Shop or ad sales—but may share in the business’s profits.” Oracle will serve as the “trusted security partner,” auditing and validating compliance, while U.S. user data will be stored in Oracle’s American data centers.
This arrangement comes in the wake of a national security law, upheld by the Supreme Court, that required ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a ban. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in September 2025 delaying enforcement of the law for 120 days, granting negotiators more time to hammer out a deal. The stakes are high: ByteDance is projected to report nearly $50 billion in net earnings for 2025, according to Bloomberg, with its profits rivaling those of tech giants like Meta Platforms Inc.
Yet, not everyone is convinced the new arrangement goes far enough. In a sharply worded opinion piece published December 23 by The Wall Street Journal, critics argued that the deal “allows ByteDance to maintain a significant stake and appears to preserve Chinese control over the algorithm that shapes the media diets of more than a third of Americans, cementing Beijing’s ability to manipulate U.S. public opinion on everything from Taiwan to the midterm elections.” The piece contends that while Congress and the Supreme Court endorsed a hardline approach—requiring divestment or a ban—the final deal may fall short of eliminating the risks of foreign influence and propaganda.
As the legal and political drama unfolds, TikTok’s commercial engine continues to roar, particularly in the realm of e-commerce. On December 24, The Guardian reported that more than 200,000 UK small and medium businesses have joined TikTok Shop since its 2021 launch. The platform, which allows brands and influencers to sell products directly through videos, livestreams, and a dedicated shop tab, has become a retail phenomenon. Major retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Samsung, QVC, Clarks, and Sainsbury’s are leveraging TikTok Shop to reach new audiences.
Black Friday 2025 marked a milestone for the service, with 27 items sold every second and sales up 50% compared to the previous year. The ease of in-app checkout and the viral nature of influencer collaborations have driven remarkable results. Sainsbury’s, for example, saw its Tu Christmas pyjamas sell out in under a week after a sponsored collaboration generated 6.6 million views. M&S livestreams attracted up to 260,000 viewers, with sales of about one item every 30 seconds.
Small businesses are finding new opportunities—and facing fresh challenges—on the platform. The Fat Butcher, a Newcastle-based meat delivery service, used TikTok Shop to sell fresh turkeys for Christmas. London-based jewellery brand L’ERA, run by Lara Mar and her daughters, expects to generate about £145,000 in revenue through TikTok Shop in 2025, nearly doubling its results from the previous year. “It has almost doubled year on year, and many of our online customers originally discovered us via TikTok,” Mar told The Guardian.
Experts credit TikTok Shop’s success to its ability to tap into impulse buying behavior. Danielle Dullaghan, social strategy director at Iris, noted that “beauty brands in particular are seeing strong commercial returns,” while business consultant Jules Brim cautioned, “TikTok Shop has exploded and for some small brands it’s been a gamechanger in terms of reach and sales. But what we don’t talk about enough is the cost. It can create a race to the bottom on pricing, put pressure on small businesses to produce constant content, and shift the focus from brand building to chasing trends.”
As TikTok’s legal, political, and commercial stories continue to intertwine, the platform’s future in the U.S. and abroad remains a matter of high stakes and heated debate. Whether the latest joint venture and security measures will satisfy lawmakers—and whether TikTok can sustain its momentum as a marketplace and cultural force—are questions that will shape tech policy and digital commerce for years to come.
