TikTok has reached a long awaited agreement that allows the short video platform to continue operating in the United States, ending years of uncertainty over its future amid tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The company confirmed the deal on Thursday, days before legislation would have forced the app offline if its Chinese parent company ByteDance failed to restructure its US operations.
The agreement resolves a prolonged dispute that began during Donald Trump’s first presidency, when US officials raised national security concerns about TikTok’s ownership and access to American user information.
Under the arrangement, TikTok’s US business will operate through a newly created entity called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, according to a statement from the company.
The new structure places American user data, content systems and recommendation tools under US based oversight, with Oracle responsible for data security and privacy protections.
TikTok said the technology that determines what videos users see will now be licensed to the US entity and trained only on data generated within the United States. Experts say that change could gradually affect how content appears on the app, although the impact on its estimated 200 million American users remains unclear.
US lawmakers have for years argued that TikTok posed a security risk because of its ownership by ByteDance, a company headquartered in China. Officials said Beijing could compel the firm to hand over data on American users, a claim TikTok and ByteDance have repeatedly denied.
Momentum for a ban grew during Joe Biden’s presidency. In 2024, Biden signed legislation requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US business or face removal from app stores.
That law triggered a legal fight between ByteDance and the US government. In January last year, TikTok briefly went offline in the United States for roughly half a day before service was restored after Trump, then president elect, said he would work to reverse the ban.
Trump welcomed the deal in a post on social media, writing that he was “so happy to have helped in saving TikTok.”
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Binding agreements with American and international investors were signed in December, according to a memo from TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew. ByteDance will retain a 19.9 percent stake in the new company.
The remaining ownership will be held by a group of investors that includes the family office of tech executive Michael Dell and Vastmere Strategic Investments, which is linked to Susquehanna International Group.
Susquehanna was co founded by Trump ally Jeff Yass, who held a significant personal stake in ByteDance last year. Its managing director, Mark Dooley, will serve on the board of the new US entity.
The board will also include Chew and executives from Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX.
TikTok said the new structure is designed to address US government concerns while allowing the platform to continue serving its American audience.