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TikTok signs deal to form new U.S. unit with investors
TikTok has signed agreements with three major investors to form a new TikTok U.S. joint venture, establishing the popular social media video platform can continue operating in the United States. NPR technology correspondent Bobby Allyn joins LiveNOW's Austin Westfall to discuss.
TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American entity, avoiding the threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years.
The wildly popular social media app finally signed an agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX to form the new TikTok U.S. joint venture.
What they're saying:
President Donald Trump praised the deal in a Truth Social post, thanking China's President Xi specifically "for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal." Trump add that he hopes "that long into the future I will be remembered by those who use and love TikTok."
Adam Presser, who previously worked as TikTok's head of operations and trust and safety, will lead the new venture as its CEO.
He will work alongside a seven-member, majority-American board of directors that includes TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew.
FILE - In this photo illustration, the TikTok logo and flag of the United States are seen on screens on Jan. 18, 2025 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)
The backstory:
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, Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration sought an agreement for the sale of the company.
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 will play out.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press and previous reporting from FOX Local.