TikTok has reached an agreement with Oracle that will allow the California-based tech company to take control of the social media app's US operations.
The partnership was confirmed on Sunday night, after President Trump previously issued an executive order calling for the sale of TikTok's stateside business. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has since revealed that the deal between TikTok and Oracle will be presented to Trump later this week, as the two companies have until September 20 to resolve the national security concerns.
TikTok ultimately opted for a partnership with Oracle over Microsoft, who intended to isolate TikTok's US operations from the app's business in Europe and Asia.
“We would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting misinformation,” Microsoft said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas.”
While details surrounding TikTok's deal with Oracle remain scarce, Oracle is being referred to as TikTok's "trusted technology partner." The Verge points out that the agreement is not considered a sale, however, as TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance will retain control of the algorithm, while Oracle will host cloud storage in the US.
"A deal where Oracle takes over hosting without source code and significant operational changes would not address any of the legitimate concerns about TikTok, and the White House accepting such a deal would demonstrate that this exercise was pure grift," former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos stated on Twitter.
Trump's issue with TikTok stems from national security concerns surrounding user data. But even with Oracle serving as the US host, the company will not be writing code or moderating the app, meaning ByteDance could still utilize tracking malware and ultimately further the Chinese agenda.
Whether or not Trump will be satisfied with the new working agreement remains to be seen, but it's worth mentioning that Oracle co-founder and chairman Larry Ellison is a public support of the president. China, on the other hand, will likely be pleased with the deal between TikTok and Oracle, as previous reports suggested ByteDance originally preferred the app be shut down in the US as opposed to selling its stateside business.
As it stands, Trump will not be getting the full sale of TikTok's US business like he initially required. And we'll just have to wait and see if the national security concerns have been addressed to his liking.
