The ongoing TikTok-US saga seems close to reaching a conclusion, but we’re not there yet. As details get worked out for a potential Oracle-driven deal, a new Bloomberg report details the plans for TikTok’s algorithm in the US.
Under proposed deal, Oracle will manage and retrain TikTok’s algorithm for US users
Alexandra S. Levine, Josh Wingrove, and Kurt Wagner write at Bloomberg:
Oracle Corp. would recreate and provide security for a new US version of TikTok’s algorithm under a deal taking shape to sell the popular Chinese-owned app to a consortium of American investors, a White House official said, addressing a key concern raised by lawmakers in Washington. The arrangement, outlined by the White House official in a statement Monday, seeks to ensure that the American buyers control TikTok’s recommendation software in the US following a divestiture by its Chinese parent, ByteDance Ltd. Owners of the US-based TikTok would lease a copy of the algorithm from ByteDance that Oracle would then retrain “from the ground up,” according to the official.
Retraining “from the ground up” sounds especially risky for users concerned about the TikTok algorithm losing its value.
But it seems this is the compromise being sought in a deal to ensure TikTok can continue to exist in the US under local governance.
The report says Oracle would manage servers that store data for US users. ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, would not have access to this data or to the newly retrained US-based algorithm.
It seems a deal could be finalized soon, as the report notes: “Trump intends to sign an executive order this week to formalize his approval of the transaction.”
It’s still unclear how long it would take to retrain the algorithm, or for US users to start seeing updates inside TikTok. But change seems more and more certain to be coming soon.
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