TikTok has signed a landmark agreement to divest and restructure its U.S. operations, bringing an end to a long-running political, legal, and national security battle that has shadowed the popular social media platform for nearly five years. The deal, which is expected to close on January 22, will transfer operational control of TikTok’s U.S. business to a new joint venture dominated by American investors, while allowing the app to continue operating for its roughly 150 million users in the United States.
Under the agreement, TikTok’s U.S. activities will be housed in a newly created entity known as TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. The ownership structure places control firmly in American hands: a consortium including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi–based investment firm MGX will collectively own 45 percent of the venture. Affiliates of existing ByteDance investors will hold nearly one-third, while ByteDance itself will retain a minority stake of about 20 percent. Despite retaining an equity interest, ByteDance will no longer exercise direct operational control over TikTok’s U.S. business.
The new U.S. joint venture will assume responsibility for the most sensitive aspects of the platform, including data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance. A central pillar of the deal is the commitment to retrain TikTok’s content recommendation algorithm using U.S. user data, with the stated goal of ensuring that American users’ feeds are insulated from any form of external or foreign manipulation. U.S. user data will be stored domestically, and access will be governed by strict security and compliance frameworks.
Oracle will play a pivotal role as the venture’s trusted technology and security partner. The company will audit systems, validate compliance with national security requirements, and oversee the safeguarding of U.S. user data. This arrangement is designed to directly address long-standing concerns raised by U.S. lawmakers and security officials about data access, surveillance risks, and potential influence over public discourse.
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The agreement represents the culmination of a process that began in 2020, when then-President Donald Trump first demanded that ByteDance sell TikTok’s U.S. operations over national security concerns. The issue resurfaced with renewed urgency in 2024, when the U.S. Congress passed legislation mandating the divestment of TikTok or face an outright ban. After the Supreme Court upheld the law in early 2025, enforcement was temporarily paused to allow negotiations, ultimately leading to the current deal.
For TikTok’s American users, creators, and advertisers, the agreement means continuity. The app will remain available, its operations localized under U.S. oversight, and its massive digital ecosystem preserved. For Washington, supporters argue the deal achieves key objectives: American control of sensitive data, independent auditing of algorithms, and reduced foreign influence over a platform that plays a central role in modern communication and culture.
While debate is likely to continue over whether the new structure fully resolves all security concerns, the agreement marks a decisive turning point. Five years after the first calls for divestment, TikTok’s U.S. operations are set to operate under American control, with American companies overseeing its most critical systems and American data remaining on American soil.
