Oracle to control TikTok’s U.S. algorithm in takeover deal

Oracle is set to run and secure TikTok’s algorithm in America, the White House has said, after it emerged that the tech giant’s founder Larry Ellison, plus Rupert Murdoch and Michael Dell, will likely be part of the group taking over the app’s U.S. arm.

Under the terms of a proposed takeover deal, the app’s current China-based owner ByteDance would lease its algorithm to the new U.S. entity, a White House official told Bloomberg. Oracle would then retrain it “from the ground up,” the official said.

Oracle will also manage a secure cloud containing U.S. users’ data, the official said, which will include controls to stop other countries from seeing it.

The arrangement seeks to address a key sticking point for U.S. lawmakers regarding who would run TikTok’s powerful recommendation software, long a security and data privacy concern.

Some have previously suggested ByteDance sell the algorithm entirely, but that would not allow it to keep running TikTok in other countries. Instead, it will create a duplicate copy, which then will be leased to a joint venture controlling the app, including Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, and the private equity group Silver Lake.

Trump is expected to sign an executive order later this week that would approve the deal, Bloomberg reports.

In a Sunday Fox News interview, Trump said Ellison, Murdoch and Dell (the CEO of computing giant Dell Technologies) will “probably” be involved in the deal which would keep the app operating in America.

“You know, they’re very well-known people,” Trump said. “And Larry Ellison is one of them. He’s involved. He’s a great guy. Michael Dell is involved.”

“I hate to tell you this, but a man named Lachlan is involved,” Trump continued, referring to Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO of Fox and media billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s son. Rupert Murdoch is “probably going to be in the group,” Trump added Sunday.

The new holding company is set to be 80% controlled by U.S. investors, with Chinese interests owning the remainder. The U.S. government would have the right to name one board member to the new company, with other American business leaders holding the majority of the other seats.

Trump held a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday over the acquisition, which is required because of a law passed by Congress in April 2024 to ban ban the wildly popular video app unless ByteDance sells its U.S. arm. Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline for enforcement of that law to kick in. Last week he did it again by 90 days, and the White House official told Bloomberg that Trump will extend that by a further 120 days this week to give parties time to finalize the deal.

The official added that U.S. users will not need to re-download the app, and that the Chinese government agreed to the terms over who will control the app’s security going forward during negotiations last week.