Oracle to Oversee TikTok Algorithm for U.S.-Based App

A consortium led by Oracle Corp. and private equity firm Silver Lake Management LLC is closing in on the acquisition of TikTok's U.S. operations, according to multiple reports.

The deal would result in the creation of a U.S.-based version of the omnipresent social media platform with its own unique algorithm, which would be operated and overseen by Oracle. Fox Corp. and Andreessen Horowitz have also been rumored as investors.

TikTok faced a federally mandated April 5 deadline to detach from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, but was granted a 75-day extension by President Donald Trump.

In January, Trump chose not to enforce the 2024 ruling despite it being upheld by the Supreme Court, which noted "well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data-collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary."

As part of the proposed deal, Oracle would retrain the TikTok algorithm based on U.S. user data and constantly monitor how it is serving content to said users. It’s unclear whether this will necessitate downloading a new, separate version of the app.

Reports said ByteDance's stake in TikTok would be less than 20% after the agreement and that it will itself license the technology powering the new U.S.-based app. Oracle already provides cloud storage services for TikTok and would continue to do so.

The Trump administration has been championing Oracle as a potential TikTok buyer for months, with an anonymous source telling NPR in January, "The goal is for Oracle to effectively monitor and provide oversight with what is going on with TikTok. ByteDance wouldn't completely go away, but it would minimize Chinese ownership."

In a possibly unrelated move, Oracle CEO Safra Catz stepped down on Monday and will be replaced by co-CEOs Clay Magouyrk and Mike Silica.