WASHINGTON (AP) — An emerging TikTok deal with China will ensure that U.S. companies control the algorithm that powers the app’s video feed and Americans will hold a majority of seats on a board overseeing U.S. operations, the White House said Saturday.
A central question to the tug of war between Washington and Beijing has been whether the popular social video platform would keep its algorithm after the potential divestment of Chinese parent company ByteDance.
Congress passed legislation calling for a TikTok ban to go into effect in January, but President Donald Trump has repeatedly signed orders that have allowed TikTok to keep operating in the United States as his administration tries to reach agreement for ByteDance to sell its U.S. operations.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said tech giant Oracle would be responsible for the app’s data and security and that Americans will control six of the seven seats for a planned board.
“We are 100% confident that a deal is done, now that deal just needs to be signed and the president’s team is working with their Chinese counterparts to do just that,” Leavitt told Fox News’ “Saturday in America” A day earlier, Trump and China’s Xi Jinping discussed a TikTok deal in a lengthy phone call.
