TikTok’s long-standing struggle to maintain its presence in the United States has reached a critical turning point with the announcement of a new majority ownership agreement. This landmark development was dissected on Bloomberg Technology, where hosts Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow reported on the intricate details of the proposed joint venture from their respective New York and San Francisco bureaus. Under this restructured framework, the parent company, ByteDance, is expected to reduce its ownership stake to less than 20% in a newly formed U.S. entity. Oracle emerges as a dominant force in this arrangement, with reports indicating it will hold a 50% stake while serving as the primary cloud partner responsible for securing and managing U.S. user data. Additional private equity and Middle Eastern investors are also involved in the venture, though Oracle remains the central American figurehead for data security.
The technical execution of this deal relies on a unique licensing model for the platform's sophisticated recommendation engine. Former TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer explained on the broadcast that the U.S. entity will license the existing code base from ByteDance rather than attempting to rebuild the complex AI from scratch—a task that previously required thousands of engineer's years to develop. This code will be isolated on Oracle’s servers and retrained exclusively on U.S. data, which theoretically ensures that the algorithm's content moderation and recommendation policies remain under domestic control. This strategy is designed to maintain "interoperability" with the global TikTok ecosystem so that users can still access international content seamlessly while satisfying national security requirements.
aroline Hyde noted the immediate impact of this news on the financial markets, highlighting a nearly 7% surge in Oracle’s stock as investors weighed the company’s future revenue guidance and expanding role in AI infrastructure. This market optimism coincided with broader discussions on the program regarding the massive valuations in the AI sector, including reports of OpenAI potentially reaching an $830 billion price tag. Meanwhile, Ed Ludlow contributed a significant segment interviewing Jared Isaacman, the newly confirmed head of NASA, who emphasized that while the private sector is currently dominating innovation, NASA remains the essential leader for the "ultimate high ground" of space science and lunar infrastructure.
Despite the operational confidence expressed by those involved, a significant geopolitical hurdle remains. Analysts on the program cautioned that the Chinese government has yet to explicitly "bless" the deal, a crucial step since Beijing has previously intervened to stop similar arrangements involving Oracle. However, the signing of these agreements is viewed by some as an "olive branch" in the strained relationship between Washington and Beijing as the January 22nd closing deadline approaches. Ultimately, the deal represents an attempt to create a "permanent solution" for TikTok, transforming it into a separate U.S. company governed by a domestic board while preserving its status as a global "social entertainment" juggernaut.
