{"prompt":"A dim, moody close-up shows a person holding a smartphone in a clear case with the TikTok logo on-screen, their other hand's finger touching the display as a blurred background keeps the focus on the phone and hands.","originalPrompt":"A dim, moody close-up shows a person holding a smartphone in a clear case with the TikTok logo on-screen, their other hand's finger touching the display as a blurred background keeps the focus on the phone and hands.","width":768,"height":768,"seed":42,"model":"flux","enhance":false,"nologo":false,"negative_prompt":"undefined","nofeed":false,"safe":false,"quality":"medium","image":[],"transparent":false,"has_nsfw_concept":false,"concept":{"special_scores":{"0":0.41100001335144043,"1":-0.07000000029802322,"2":-0.10000000149011612},"special_care":[[0,0.41100001335144043]],"concept_scores":{"0":-0.05299999937415123,"1":-0.09700000286102295,"2":-0.05299999937415123,"3":-0.02500000037252903,"4":-0.07999999821186066,"5":-0.054999999701976776,"6":-0.052000001072883606,"7":-0.023000000044703484,"8":-0.08399999886751175,"9":-0.09399999678134918,"10":-0.06300000101327896,"11":-0.05700000002980232,"12":-0.028999999165534973,"13":-0.08900000154972076,"14":-0.10300000011920929,"15":-0.10999999940395355,"16":-0.11100000143051147},"bad_concepts":[]},"trackingData":{"actualModel":"flux","usage":{"completionImageTokens":1,"totalTokenCount":1}}}
TikTok has finalized an agreement to transfer its U.S. business to a group of American investors, ensuring the social media platform will continue functioning in the United States. The transaction is anticipated to close on January 22, with the current CEO, Shou Zi Chew, confirming that ByteDance and TikTok have entered binding contracts with Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX.
Under the new arrangement, half of the U.S. TikTok venture will be owned by the consortium of investors, with Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX each holding a 15% stake. Affiliates of ByteDance’s present investors will control 30.1%, while ByteDance itself will retain 19.9% ownership. The U.S. entity will be led by a seven-member board dominated by American directors, and it will operate under stringent conditions designed to safeguard American user data and protect national security interests.
User data from the U.S. will be stored locally in systems managed by Oracle, and TikTok’s core algorithm will be retrained on this U.S. user data to prevent external interference in the content feed. This new U.S. venture will also manage content moderation and policy enforcement within the country.
This development ends years of uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s future in the United States. Following congressional legislation signed by President Joe Biden, TikTok faced a potential ban by January 2025 unless ownership shifted away from ByteDance, its China-based parent company. Despite temporary operational pauses and various executive orders during the previous administration that delayed the ban and aimed to negotiate a sale, TikTok remained accessible to U.S. users.
The finalized deal marks a turning point, allowing TikTok to operate under greater American oversight while addressing ongoing regulatory and security concerns in the U.S. market.
