What you want to know
- TikTok signed a deal to promote a part of its U.S. enterprise to a three way partnership primarily managed by American traders.
- The deadline for the sale is Jan. 22, 2026, and the phrases give U.S. traders full management over the TikTok algorithm and app decision-making.
- It stays to be seen whether or not this deal meets the phrases of a congressional invoice banning the app, or if China will publicly log out on the transaction.
Greater than a yr after Congress handed a invoice requiring the sale of TikTok’s U.S. business, the company signed a deal that would create a joint venture controlled by American investors, as reported by Axios. The deadline for TikTok’s sale is Jan. 22, 2026, and if there aren’t any roadbumps alongside the way in which, the favored social media platform might be in new fingers in roughly a month’s time. Should you’re a TikTok consumer within the U.S. questioning what this implies for the social app, you are in the suitable place.
The deal was introduced internally by TikTok CEO Shou Chew in a memo obtained by a number of information shops. The TikTok chief reportedly mentioned there’s “extra work to be achieved” forward of the deadline, though the preliminary deal has been signed. The brand new three way partnership would go partial possession of TikTok’s U.S. enterprise to Oracle Company, Silver Lake, and MGX.
The new TikTok venture would see Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX hold 15% of the new company, with ByteDance keeping 19.9% ownership. Another 30.1% will reportedly be owned by affiliates of current ByteDance investors. The terms of the deal are said to create a seven-member board of directors for the new TikTok joint venture, with majority-American members.
Chew explained the terms of the deal in the reported memo (via ABC News):
Pursuant to the Govt Order signed by U.S. President Donald J. Trump on September 25, 2025, the agreements specify that the U.S. three way partnership will likely be majority owned by American traders, ruled by a brand new seven-member majority-American board of administrators, and topic to phrases that shield Individuals’ knowledge and U.S. nationwide safety.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew
The brand new deal is the fruits of a prolonged course of that included a congressional invoice outlining the phrases of the required sale of TikTok’s U.S. enterprise. If a deal was not reached, the legislation mandated a nationwide ban. Nevertheless, the invoice additionally gave U.S. President Donald Trump the ability to information and approve the phrases of a sale. TikTok was briefly banned within the U.S., however Trump additionally signed a number of government orders extending the sale-or-ban deadline.
Now {that a} deal has been signed, this is what we learn about the way it will have an effect on customers.
What’s altering for TikTok customers
One of many U.S. authorities’s issues with TikTok is how the platform’s algorithm might be used to affect the general public. TikTok is at the moment owned by the Chinese language firm ByteDance. As a part of the sale, the three way partnership will reportedly management the TikTok algorithm, quelling these issues.
The brand new firm will retrain “the content material advice algorithm on U.S. consumer knowledge to make sure the content material feed is free from exterior manipulation,” in response to Chew’s memo. Moreover, the three way partnership can have “final decision-making authority for reviewing and approving all content material moderation and associated insurance policies inside the USA.”
In different phrases, for those who’re within the U.S., your TikTok feed might begin to look completely different early subsequent yr — if the deal closes as anticipated.
The deal additionally mandates the storing of U.S. consumer knowledge in a “trusted and safe cloud surroundings in the USA run by Oracle,” in response to the memo.
What comes next for the planned TikTok sale
The closing date for TikTok’s sale is set to arrive next month, but in order for that to happen, a few questions will need to be answered.
Most importantly, experts say that China could block the deal from closing. In the past, U.S. President Trump said that Chinese President Xi Jinping signed off on the deal, but this has not been officially confirmed by the Chinese government. Additionally, it remains to be seen whether the signed deal meets the conditions of the congressional bill banning TikTok.
If everything moves forward as expected, TikTok users in the U.S. could start seeing a different algorithm next month.