TikTok future in America saved as new US joint venture takes control

New Delhi: TikTok has moved one big step closer to securing its future in the United States, and it almost feels like the end of a very long drama. As someone who has followed this story since the early days when the app first came under fire, it honestly feels strange to see it finally reaching a clearer stage after so much confusion, legal pressure and political noise. More than 170 million Americans use the platform daily, and many had been wondering whether the app would be banned or saved.

Now, TikTok is moving forward with a new structure that shifts control of its U.S. operations into American hands. This comes after years of debates, courtroom battles and diplomatic negotiations involving Washington, Beijing and global investors. The company has even told employees that binding agreements are now signed and the path is laid out.

According to an internal memo seen by Axios, TikTok has signed a deal to divest its U.S. entity to a new joint venture controlled by American investors. The memo says the deal is set to close on January 22 and the new entity will be called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi based MGX will collectively own 45 percent of the new venture, while nearly one third will belong to affiliates of existing ByteDance investors and nearly 20 percent will remain with ByteDance. The deal values TikTok U.S. at around 14 billion dollars, Axios reported.

Reuters also reported that under another agreement, American and global investors such as Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX will hold an 80.1 percent stake, while ByteDance will retain 19.9 percent. The agreement states that the joint venture will operate TikTok’s U.S. app and will take charge of U.S. data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance. CEO Shou Zi Chew told employees that the joint venture would "operate as an independent entity with authority over U.S. data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance.”

According to Axios, the joint venture will be responsible for retraining the recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data to keep it free from outside manipulation. Oracle will act as the trusted security partner, auditing compliance with national security terms. The memo further mentions that after closing, the U.S. joint venture will operate as an independent entity with control over U.S. data protection, algorithm oversight, moderation and software assurance, while global TikTok entities will continue to handle global product operations, advertising and e-commerce.

The deal comes after a long chain of political developments. A U.S. law passed in 2024 required TikTok to either sell the U.S. business or face a ban. The Supreme Court upheld the law in January. That led to repeated deadline extensions while negotiations continued. On top of that, China and the United States spent months locked in discussions over how to separate TikTok’s U.S. operations without breaking the platform.

The new deal is meant to end this long security dispute and allow TikTok to keep operating in the U.S. without a ban. The White House earlier said the joint venture would take over the U.S. app, although some questions remain about how the business relationship with ByteDance will work going forward. Former U.S. National Security Council official Rush Doshi earlier pointed out uncertainty over whether the algorithm is transferred, licensed or still controlled from Beijing with Oracle only monitoring.

From a user point of view, everyday TikTok browsing may not change much immediately, but behind the scenes this deal represents one of the biggest regulatory and geopolitical moves in tech history.  The deal now awaits final clearances and regulatory approvals before it officially closes. Until then, this story stays one of the biggest tech, telecom and business developments of 2025.