(March 19): Oracle Corp is weighing a proposal for a sale of TiKTok’s US operations that would have it provide security assurances and take a small stake in a new American entity while potentially leaving the app’s influential algorithm in Chinese hands, according to people familiar with the matter.

A proposal was circulated within the Trump administration last week that would have Oracle work with US buyers to vouch for the safety of users’ data, according to the people, who discussed the plan on condition of anonymity citing its confidentiality. That would include guarantees that an updated US version of TikTok would not contain a back door that China’s government could exploit, they said.

The plan is emerging with less than three weeks to reach a deal to avert a TikTok ban under a US law requiring its Chinese owner ByteDance Ltd to divest in the name of protecting national security. President Donald Trump issued an order on his first day in office delaying enforcement until April 5 to buy time for a deal, and he has called for a sale that would let TikTok keep operating in the US.

Oracle already works with TikTok to secure US user data as part of a partnership called Project Texas, and it’s unclear what else would change about the app or its communication with Beijing-based ByteDance under the proposal. The proposal is still tentative and details could change, the people said.

Any deal would require approval not only from Trump, but from TikTok’s parent and the Chinese government. Letting ByteDance retain the algorithm would make it easier to win over the company and Chinese authorities, but would risk failing to comply with the law signed last year by then-US president Joe Biden. It would also leave unresolved US concerns that China could access sensitive data or use the app to spread propaganda — claims that ByteDance and officials in Beijing have previously rejected.

China’s government is aware of Oracle potentially providing a security backstop and taking a small stake, one person familiar with the matter said. Authorities in Beijing would likely accept a deal with Oracle’s involvement as long as TikTok’s algorithm remains fully under China’s control, the person said.

Spokespeople for Oracle and the White House didn’t respond to requests for comment. TiKTok declined to comment, and ByteDance’s representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

The US is one of TikTok’s most important markets — it operates a sister service, Douyin, at home in China — and TikTok US was estimated last year to be worth as much as US$50 billion (RM221.55 billion). It’s unclear whether ByteDance is involved in the current discussions, and there’s scepticism around whether the company or the government in Beijing would approve any sale of its US operations.

Publicly known bidders include a group led by billionaire Frank McCourt and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, another featuring tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley and YouTube star MrBeast, and a merger offer by San Francisco-based Perplexity AI. Another bidder could be a group including Microsoft Corp, according to people familiar with the matter. Microsoft has not yet decided if it’s interested, according to one person familiar with its thinking, and a company spokesperson declined to comment. 

Trump has also floated Oracle founder Larry Ellison among possible bidders, and Chinese officials have evaluated a scenario where billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk would acquire TikTok in the US. Musk, who already owns the X social media platform, has said he is not interested.

A full acquisition or significant financial investment from Oracle appears unlikely — the company is spending much of its cash flow on constructing data centres and is saddled with debt in part from a previous acquisition. The company’s expertise is in technical infrastructure rather than consumer-facing apps.

Oracle was Trump’s original choice to buy TikTok from ByteDance in 2020, when he tried unsuccessfully to ban the app over national security concerns. US efforts to get ByteDance to sell its American assets to a consortium that included Oracle and Walmart Inc fell apart in the final months of his first term amid legal challenges by ByteDance and the widening Covid-19 pandemic.

Since then, Oracle has built a significant cloud infrastructure business with TikTok, with Evercore ISI estimating in mid-2024 that the company’s annual revenue from TikTok may now be in the range of US$500 million to US$800 million. Oracle was also tapped to help the app cordon off sensitive US user data from ByteDance, though that plan ultimately failed to win acceptance from regulators in Washington.

During his comeback bid for the White House, Trump dropped his demands for a TikTok ban, crediting the app with boosting his 2024 presidential campaign’s outreach to younger voters and urging a sale by ByteDance that would keep the popular video-sharing platform alive in the US. Since taking office in January, he has already extended the deadline for a sale once and indicated he’s open to doing so again, but said he believes a deal is possible.

Trump administration discussions on TikTok’s fate are being overseen by Vice President JD Vance and his advisers, including his Chief of Staff Jacob Reses and aide Sean Cooksey, according to people familiar with the matter. White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who voted in favour of last year’s divest-or-ban legislation, also is involved, the people said.

Last Friday, Vance said he expected Trump to wrap up what he called a “high-level agreement” to create “a distinct American TikTok enterprise” that addresses the security concerns surrounding Chinese connections to the app.

“We are going to be in a place where we can say TikTok is operational, and it’s also operational in a way that’s protective of Americans’ data privacy and America’s national security,” he told NBC News in an interview.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee