After years of political wrangling, courtroom drama, and diplomatic posturing, the fate of TikTok in the United States appears—at least for now—to have reached a turning point. On October 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that effectively makes TikTok a US property, capping off a saga that has gripped Washington, Beijing, and millions of American users for months. The move follows four extensions of the legal deadline to either ban the social media giant or force its Chinese parent, ByteDance, to divest its American operations.
The deal, which has been described as a “framework consensus” by officials familiar with the negotiations, is anything but straightforward. According to Project Syndicate, the agreement will see Oracle and a consortium of US investors—including Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic, KKR, and even Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp—control 80% of a newly created US entity managing TikTok’s American operations. ByteDance, meanwhile, will retain just under 20%, making it the single largest shareholder but no longer the majority owner.
All US user data is set to remain on Oracle’s servers in Texas, a nod to persistent fears that Chinese authorities could access sensitive information. The new entity’s board of directors will be dominated by Americans, with six out of seven seats held by US citizens and one member designated by the federal government, as reported by CNN and Reuters. The deal is expected to close within 30 to 45 days from early October, with the White House having extended the deadline to sell or shut down TikTok until December 16, 2025.
On paper, this looks like a major victory for the Trump administration, which has long argued that TikTok’s Chinese ownership posed a threat to national security. In fact, the president himself hailed the agreement as a win for American technology sovereignty, stating at a White House briefing, “We have a deal on TikTok ... We have a group of very big companies that want to buy it.” The administration is also set to receive a multi-billion-dollar payout from investors—a commission for their role in brokering the deal, according to Project Syndicate.
But beneath the celebratory rhetoric lies a more complicated reality. Despite the shift in majority ownership, ByteDance’s continued stake ensures it remains a powerful player in TikTok’s US future. More crucially, the intellectual property underpinning TikTok’s famed recommendation algorithms—the secret sauce that keeps users glued to their screens—will remain with ByteDance. Oracle and its partners will receive only a licensed copy of the algorithm, retrained with US data and subject to regular updates from China. As Project Syndicate points out, algorithms are not static assets. They require continuous retraining, fine-tuning, and engineering support to remain effective, and the US version of TikTok will still rely on ByteDance for these updates.
This arrangement introduces a new layer of uncertainty. Since 2020, China has classified personalized recommendation algorithms as essential technology under its export control regime. Any export of algorithm updates or improvements from ByteDance to the US entity will require Chinese government approval. This gives Beijing significant leverage, allowing it to use TikTok as a diplomatic tool in future disputes over trade, technology, or geopolitical flashpoints such as Taiwan or Ukraine. As Project Syndicate notes, “China could delay or withhold licensing approval, using TikTok as another bargaining chip.”
The deal’s complexity is further underscored by its political undertones. According to BBC News, the agreement was reached following high-level US-China talks, with control over TikTok leveraged as part of broader negotiations on national security, economic, and trade issues. China’s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, voiced concerns over what he called “unilateral bullying,” and some analysts suggest that Beijing may drag out the approval process to gain advantage.
For many in Washington, the agreement is a double-edged sword. While it may alleviate immediate fears of Chinese access to American data or direct manipulation of TikTok’s algorithms, it replaces one vulnerability with another: technological dependence on China. The US version of TikTok, reliant on a licensed algorithm and cut off from ByteDance’s vast global data set, could become less competitive—perhaps even less addictive. Some observers, as Project Syndicate wryly notes, see this as a “blessing in disguise,” arguing that a less compelling TikTok might actually benefit American teenagers.
Yet the risks extend beyond technical dependencies. Social media algorithms wield enormous political power by shaping what content users see. As The Conversation reports, TikTok’s “For You” page delivers hyper-personalized content, creating echo chambers and amplifying polarization. The platform’s reach is staggering: 63% of US teenagers use TikTok, and one in five American adults regularly get their news from the app—a dramatic increase from just five years ago. Experts and policymakers have long warned that TikTok could be weaponized for political interference, whether by foreign or domestic actors.
Ironically, as the risk of Chinese influence recedes, new concerns arise about how US political interests might shape TikTok’s content. President Trump himself quipped, “If I could, I’d make it 100 per cent MAGA-related,” though he added that every group would be treated fairly. The new US owners may consider changes to TikTok’s content moderation policies, but this too is fraught with peril. As recent controversies over Twitter’s (now X) moderation policies under Elon Musk have shown, altering the balance between free speech and misinformation can have unpredictable consequences.
The TikTok saga has also played out against the backdrop of a US government shutdown—the first since 2018—after Congress failed to agree on spending plans. The shutdown has intensified partisan battles in Washington, with Democrats seizing the opportunity to push back against Trump’s agenda, particularly on healthcare and spending cuts. The TikTok deal, which involves investors with close ties to President Trump, has become yet another flashpoint in the broader debate over technology, national security, and political power.
Ultimately, the agreement to keep TikTok operating in the US under American-controlled ownership is less a decisive solution than a temporary truce. The platform’s future remains entangled in the shifting currents of US-China relations, domestic politics, and the ever-evolving landscape of social media. For the 170 million Americans who use TikTok, the app is safe—for now. But in the world of geopolitics and technology, nothing stays settled for long.
