TikTok signs deal to safeguard app’s future in America

TikTok has signed a deal, expected to close on January 22, 2026, that sees the American arm of the company spun off under a new entity majority controlled by U.S. investors, safeguarding the app’s future in the nation.

Back in April 2024, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill that required TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell a majority of its shares or face a ban in the U.S. The law banning TikTok in the US took effect on January 19, 2025, briefly blocking the app, however, President Donald Trump quickly overturned the ruling and has continuously extended the deadline throughout the year.

Now, after Trump detailed a deal back in September, TikTok has signed the papers. As first reported by Axios, its U.S. assets are to be spun off into a new entity that will be majority-owned by U.S. investors.

Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX will jointly control a 50% stake in the new entity. The rest will consist of 30.1% from affiliates of ByteDance investors, and 19.9% retained by ByteDance itself. This ensures TikTok will continue operating in the U.S.

TikTok avoids U.S. ban with new deal

TikTok/Unsplash: bmowinkel

TikTok will be continuing operations in America in light of this new deal.

The deal isn’t finalized just yet, but the Chinese government and US regulators must approve the deal before it’s finalized. It is reportedly set to close on January 22, according to an internal company memo first circulated by Axios.

TikTok’s U.S. entity will boast a board of seven directors, with the majority being American. Furthermore, U.S. user data will be stored in the U.S. moving forward.

On the user’s end, Americans may notice changes to the content being fed on their feed. TikTok is reportedly set to ‘retrain’ its algorithm as part of the deal, “[ensuring] the content feed is free from outside manipulation.”

This mostly U.S. collective will also be responsible for U.S. content moderation moving forward.