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TikTok deal takes shape

Oracle will provide security for the new TikTok entity in the United States, following the President Trump-backed deal to allow the social media company to keep operating in the U.S.

© Damian Dovarganes, Associated Press

The proposal will “allow Oracle, as the security provider for this new entity, to inspect it, to study how it behaves and see how it operates,” a senior White House official said.

The U.S. TikTok investment group includes Oracle and private equity firm Silver Lake, among other firms, the official said, adding that the full number of investors will be finalized before the end of the transaction.

The official expects TikTok’s parent company ByteDance will hold less than 20 percent of the equity in the U.S. operations, which complies with the Biden-era divest-or-ban law, The Hill's Alex Gangitano reports.

As part of the proposal, the algorithm of TikTok will be “retrained” and brought under the control of the U.S. joint venture, a result of what the official said was “a tough point of negotiation.”

Per the deal, “a copy of the content recommendation algorithm … [is] going to be fully inspected and retrained by the security provider on U.S. user data and then it’s going to be operated by that U.S. entity,” the official said.

“It’s going to be continuously monitored as it operates to ensure that it’s behaving appropriately — that it’s not being used for any kind of malicious purpose and that it’s not being unduly influenced,” they continued.

Trump said Friday........

© The Hill