White House Reveals TikTok Deal to Seize Control of Algorithm

Fri Sep 26 2025 14:31:36 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The Biden administration's new deal aims to transfer control of TikTok's algorithm to U.S. companies, as national security concerns surrounding the popular app intensify amid ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and China.

The White House has detailed a significant arrangement with China that would allow U.S. companies to manage TikTok's algorithm, with Americans holding six out of seven board positions. The agreement represents an effort to address national security concerns about data privacy and control over the app, which is owned by China's ByteDance. The deal, expected to be finalized shortly, reflects a shift in approach, as President Trump previously threatened to ban TikTok unless it was sold to an American firm. The role of Oracle, a major American tech company, will be pivotal in overseeing data privacy, adding a layer of U.S. oversight amid scrutiny of TikTok's operations.

The White House has announced that U.S. companies will now control TikTok's algorithm and Americans will hold six of seven board seats for the app's U.S. operations in a much-anticipated deal with China.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said a deal could be signed in the coming days, but Beijing is yet to comment.

The U.S. has sought to take the video-sharing app's U.S. operations away from Chinese parent company ByteDance for national security reasons.

TikTok was previously told it had to sell its U.S. operations or risk being shut down.

But U.S. President Donald Trump delayed implementing the ban four times since it was first announced in January, and earlier this week extended the deadline again to December.

Leavitt said that data and privacy for the app in the U.S. will be led by tech giant Oracle, which is owned by Larry Ellison, one of the world's richest people and a Trump ally.

The data and privacy will be led by one of America's greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America as well, she told Fox News.

So all of those details have already been agreed upon. Now we just need this deal to be signed.

Mr. Ellison's son, David Ellison, recently acquired media company Paramount, which owns CBS News, making the Ellisons one of the country's most powerful families in media.

Trump said on Friday that he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping approved a deal on the future of TikTok's U.S. operations during a phone call, although there was no confirmation from Beijing.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that the call was productive and he appreciated Xi's approval of deal, which would reportedly see TikTok's U.S. business sold to a group of U.S. investors.

China's official state news agency Xinhua left the outcome of their discussion less clear, with Xi quoted as saying that Beijing welcomes negotiations over TikTok.

A sticking point in negotiations appears to have been over who will own the powerful algorithm that pushes content to TikTok's 170 million American users.

Speaking alongside British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the UK on Thursday, Trump sidestepped a question from a reporter about whether an American buyer would need to build a new algorithm, or if they could continue to use the current algorithm.

While Trump initially called for TikTok to be banned during his first term, he has changed course. He turned to the hugely popular platform to boost his support among young Americans during his successful 2024 presidential campaign.

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law first passed in early 2024, banning the app unless ByteDance divested from its U.S. operations. The app went dark only briefly at the time, before the ban was delayed.

The U.S. Department of Justice previously expressed concerns that TikTok's access to the data of U.S. users posed a national security threat of immense depth and scale.

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