TikTok Signs US Joint Venture Deal to Avoid Ban

TikTok has secured its place in the United States through a new joint venture that shifts control away from its Chinese parent company.

Deal Structure and Ownership

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, signed agreements on December 18, 2025, to form TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC.

The new entity will be majority-owned by a consortium of US and global investors.

Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will each hold a 15% stake.

ByteDance will retain a 19.9% minority share, while affiliates of existing ByteDance investors will hold 30.1%. Together, new investors will control 50% of the venture.

Data Security Measures

To address national security concerns, all US user data will be stored in Oracle’s US-based data centers.

Oracle will serve as a trusted security partner, auditing the app’s systems and algorithms for compliance.

The recommendation algorithm will be retrained using only US user data to prevent foreign influence.

Future Operations and Timeline

The joint venture will handle data protection, content moderation, algorithm security, e-commerce, and advertising in the US.

The deal is set to close on January 22, 2026. This agreement ends a saga that began in 2020, when US officials first raised issues over data privacy and potential Chinese government access.

The arrangement allows TikTok to continue serving over 170 million US users without facing a ban.

It sets a model for how foreign tech firms can operate in the US amid heightened scrutiny on data protection and national security.