The United States and China have reached a tentative agreement regarding the future governance of TikTok’s operations in the U.S., according to a senior White House official. Under the deal, Americans will hold six out of seven seats on the board overseeing TikTok’s U.S. operations, while China’s parent company, ByteDance, will appoint the remaining member. This arrangement aims to ensure greater American oversight of the popular short-video app, which has been the subject of intense scrutiny over national security concerns.
As part of the agreement, all data belonging to American TikTok users will be stored on U.S.-based cloud infrastructure managed by Oracle, a major American software firm. This move is designed to address fears that user data could be accessed or manipulated by the Chinese government. The official emphasized that this is a key component of the deal aimed at safeguarding American user information.
President Donald Trump is actively working to finalize the deal in an effort to prevent the mandated shutdown of TikTok in the U.S., which Congress has ordered if ByteDance fails to divest its American operations by January 2025. During a recent phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump reported progress toward an agreement and announced plans for a face-to-face meeting within six weeks to finalize the details.
While official statements from Beijing have been less forthcoming about the status of negotiations, U.S. officials have asserted that major components of the agreement are largely in place. Central among these is the U.S. gaining some degree of control over TikTok’s algorithm—a critical issue given concerns that the algorithm could be used by China to influence what American users see on the platform. The White House official assured that the algorithm will be “secured, retrained, and operated in the United States outside of ByteDance’s control,” effectively removing Chinese influence over this key part of the app’s functionality.
Despite these security measures, American users will still have access to global content on TikTok, maintaining the app’s core interactive and social features. ByteDance’s ownership stake in the joint venture managing TikTok’s U.S. operations will be limited to less than 20%, further diminishing its control over the platform in the American market.
This agreement, if finalized, represents a significant step in balancing national security concerns with the popular appeal of TikTok among American users, while also reflecting the broader geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China over technology and data sovereignty.
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