It’s official! The United States, via the Donald Trump administration, and China have finalized a TikTok deal to keep the social networking app operating in the U.S. through a new American version that will include oversight of “comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation.”
On Thursday (January 22, 2026), TikTok released a statement revealing new company, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, would be taking over app operations in the United States. The company will “operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users.”
TikTok’s Beijing-based owner ByteDance will retain a 19.9% stake in the new U.S. operation. The joint venture will be governed by a seven-member board of directors, including TikTok CEO Shou Chew. The majority of the board’s members are American, including Adam Presser, a TikTok veteran and former WarnerMedia executive, who will lead the new company.
Furthermore, the finalized TikTok deal, facilitated by the Trump administration, means the U.S. version of the app will become majority-owned by a group of investors that includes American tech giant Oracle, the California-based private equity fund Silver Lake, and the United Arab Emirates investment firm MGX.
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The new deal’s announcement ends a years-long battle that began after Trump, during his first term, first attempted to ban the app in the U.S. Former President Joe Biden continued with the next steps to ban the app. Both administrations have criticized the Chinese-based social media platform over national security concerns.
Americans make up TikTok’s largest user and creator bases, with more than 200 million active users across the country. These millions of users previously said goodbye to the app in January 2025 as the Supreme Court upheld the law to ban TikTok as its Chinese owners failed to sell the app to an American entity.
On January 18, TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8 and more apps owned by ByteDance pulled their apps from app stores in America, suspending services in the U.S. Just a few short hours after going dark in the U.S., Trump swooped in and gave ByteDance an extension — which was followed by extension after extension, until this new deal was formed and finalized.
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