What to know about the deal to keep TikTok in US
[January 24, 2026] By
BARBARA ORTUTAY
TikTok has at last finalized a deal to keep the popular video sharing
platform operating in the U.S. after years of uncertainty, but questions
remain about whether users' experience will change and whether the
changes actually address security concerns around the app.
Here's what to know about the deal, which created a new TikTok U.S.
joint venture after social video platform company signed agreements with
major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment
firm MGX.
Why was the deal needed?
After wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed — and President Joe
Biden signed — a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it did not
find a new owner in the place of China’s ByteDance, the platform was set
to go dark on the law’s January 2025 deadline. For several hours, it
did. But on his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an
executive order to keep it running while his administration sought an
agreement for the sale of the company. A string of orders continued to
extend the deadline until this deal was reached.
We don't know how the TikTok experience will change, but there's no
new app
American TikTok users can continue using the same app, according to
TikTok. But exactly what American users will see on their TikTok feeds
once the changeover happens remains unclear.
The algorithm — the secret sauce that powers its addictive video feed —
powering the U.S. backend will be licensed from ByteDance and then
retrained on U.S. user data. The act of retraining the content
recommendation formula is certain to at least have subtle changes to a
user's personalized feeds.
Any noticeable changes made to a social media platform’s service raises
the risk of alienating its audience, said Jasmine Enberg, an analyst for
the research firm eMarketer.
TikTok's press release claims U.S. creators will still be discoverable
in other regions worldwide, and businesses will be able to maintain
global reach. But how interoperability between the U.S. and ByteDance to
maintain a global TikTok experience is currently unknown.
The retrained algorithm means that the trends — “and what dominates
feeds — will feel distinctly American,” said Forrester analyst Kelsey
Chickering.
“Global content will still appear, but its ranking will change,” she
said. “This matters because the algorithm is the heartbeat of the app’s
addictive experience. The question becomes: Will a U.S.-centric feed
supercharge engagement, or will it chip away at TikTok’s cultural
cachet?”
What is known, however, is that there is an updated Terms of Service.
One of the updates notes that while users retain ownership of their
content, TikTok is able to use that content to operate or improve the
platform, subject to settings.
Americans under the age of 13 will be limited to an “Under 13
Experience.”
And users are also responsible for any posted AI-generated content and
must label it as created by artificial intelligence.
TikTok's new owners have ties to Trump
Although he no longer runs Oracle as its CEO, company co-founder Larry
Ellison remains a top executive while also overseeing an estimated
personal fortune of $225 billion. Ellison, 81, now could be in line to
become a behind-the-scenes power player in the media, having already
helped finance Skydance’s recently completed $8 billion merger with
Paramount, a deal engineered by his son, David. Ellison's relationship
with the Trump administration dates back to the president's first term,
where he played a role in the administration's efforts to get ByteDance
to sell TikTok.
These ties have raised concerns among some users around content
moderation and what videos American users will see on their feeds.
“If moderation happens to tilt toward one political viewpoint or fails
to curb misinformation, TikTok risks a user exodus to rival platforms,”
Chickering said. "We’ve seen this before when Twitter’s transformation
into X triggered fallout from users and advertisers.”
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The icon for the TikTok video sharing app is seen on a smartphone in
Marple Township, Pa., Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
 Vice President JD Vance, who was
tasked with helping lead the White House’s efforts to find a U.S.
buyer for TikTok, was involved in negotiating meetings along with
way, as was Trump, according to a person familiar with the meetings
who was not authorized to speak publicly.
In September, when U.S. officials including Treasury Secretary Scott
Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, met in Madrid
with Chinese officials, Vance and Trump joined some of the
negotiating meetings by phone and they pressured China to agree a
deal by the end of the trip, which they did, according to the
official.
That led to Trump’s September executive order that allowed TikTok to
continue operating in the U.S.
The deal does not completely address security concerns in the law
Lawmakers previously expressed concern that the Chinese government
could use TikTok's algorithm to push propaganda or gather data on
individual users, a key reason Congress passed legislation in 2024
requiring the company's divestment from Beijing-based owner
ByteDance.
The law prohibits “any cooperation with respect to the operation of
a content recommendation algorithm” between ByteDance and a new
potential American ownership group, so it is unclear how ByteDance’s
continued involvement in this arrangement — especially since they
will license the algorithm to the U.S. entity — will play out.
How are users and creators reacting?
Skip Chapman, co-owner of KAFX Body in Manasquan, New Jersey, which
makes and sells natural deodorants, launched his business in April
2023 on TikTok when TikTok shop was still in beta testing. He said
he’s mainly glad he can stop worrying about the potential of a
TikTok ban, the threat of which has been looming over his business
for over a year. He sells his products on his own website and
Amazon, but 80% of sales still come from the TikTok shop and it is
the primary way he reaches new customers.
He said he is cautiously optimistic the deal will be good for TikTok
and his shop, but he is a little concerned that the new owners might
de-prioritize the e-commerce aspect of TikTok.
“The past two years, TikTok has really leaned into this live social
commerce and just the ability to sell on the platform and they’ve
kind of prioritized it and I’m hoping that the new owners continue
to prioritize it and even more so add more features, more benefits,
more opportunities for my business,” he said.
Vanessa Barreat owns La Vecindad Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas,
and she has TikTok page for the restaurant that has over 100,000
followers. Visibility on the site has helped her attract customers,
particularly out-of-towners, and spend less on marketing.
She said she’s in a “wait-and-see mindset” about the deal.
“Anytime there’s a major shift or deal, there’s uncertainty, but I’m
not operating from fear,” she said. “TikTok has empowered so many
voices that historically didn’t have access to platforms like this,
and that impact doesn’t disappear overnight.”
—
AP Business Writer Mae Anderson in Nashville, Tennessee and Michelle
Price in Washington contributed to this story.
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