WASHINGTON, Jan 24, 2026, 07:11 (EST)
ByteDance has secured U.S. and Chinese sign-off for a deal to hand TikTok’s American business to a new majority-U.S.-owned venture backed by Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX, Sky News reported on Friday. President Donald Trump praised the agreement on Truth Social, writing he was “so happy to have helped in saving TikTok!” (Sky News)
The deal is meant to end a years-long tug-of-war over whether the app can keep operating in the United States, after Washington demanded a sale over national security concerns. A U.S. law passed in 2024 set a deadline for ByteDance to find a buyer or face a ban, and Trump later delayed enforcement while talks continued, the Guardian reported. (The Guardian)
The ownership shift is already spilling into day-to-day app use. TikTok has pushed updated terms and a new privacy policy to U.S. users that allows collection of “approximate or precise” location data — GPS-level tracking if a user enables location services — and adds language on collecting interactions with its AI tools, Wired reported. (WIRED)
Some of the updated wording has prompted a fresh round of anxiety online, including language listing categories of “sensitive” information such as “citizenship or immigration status.” “TikTok is required under those laws to notify users in the privacy policy that the sensitive personal information is being collected,” said Jennifer Daniels, a partner at Blank Rome, as TechCrunch noted in a breakdown of the terms. (TechCrunch)
TikTok said it has established TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC — a joint venture, meaning a company owned by multiple partners — with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each holding 15% and ByteDance retaining 19.9%, Data Center Dynamics reported, citing a company statement. It said U.S. user data would remain in Oracle’s U.S. cloud under a cybersecurity program audited and certified by third-party experts. (Datacenterdynamics)
The Verge reported the new U.S. entity will be led by Adam Presser as CEO, with Will Farrell serving as chief security officer, and that the venture plans to retrain and update TikTok’s recommendation algorithm using U.S. user data. TikTok’s algorithm is the system that decides which videos a user sees next. (The Verge)
For TikTok, the stakes go beyond compliance. Advertisers and creators have alternatives, and any perception that the app is becoming more intrusive about data could push users toward rivals’ short-video feeds.
But the reworked structure may not close off the hardest question: who ultimately controls what Americans see. “Who controls TikTok in the U.S. has a lot of sway over what Americans see on the app,” said Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University, in an Associated Press report published by Fast Company, which also noted uncertainty around how ByteDance’s ongoing role meshes with U.S. restrictions on algorithm cooperation. (Fast Company)
Separately, a Geeky Gadgets guide published Friday urged Apple users to trim iCloud backups, clear iCloud Drive and manage photo libraries as they hit storage limits — including Apple’s free 5GB tier. It suggested shifting some backups to a computer and pruning messaging and WhatsApp data to reduce paid storage needs. (Geeky Gadgets)
The through-line is simple: tech firms and governments keep renegotiating the rules for where data sits and who can touch it. Users still get the pop-up — and a choice that rarely feels like one.
