The continuing TikTok-US narrative appears to be nearing its conclusion, yet we are not quite there. As arrangements are being finalized for a potential Oracle-led agreement, a recent Bloomberg article reveals plans for TikTok’s algorithm in the United States.
Under the proposed agreement, Oracle will take charge of managing and retraining TikTok’s algorithm specifically for US users.
Alexandra S. Levine, Josh Wingrove, and Kurt Wagner report at Bloomberg:
According to a White House official, Oracle Corp. would reconstruct and secure a new version of TikTok’s algorithm for the US as part of a developing plan to transfer the popular app, owned by a Chinese company, to a group of American investors. This addresses a major concern raised by lawmakers in Washington.
The proposal, articulated by the White House official in a statement on Monday, aims to guarantee that American buyers will have control over TikTok’s recommendation technology in the US following the divestiture from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd. The US-based owners of TikTok would obtain a leased version of the algorithm from ByteDance, which Oracle would then retrain “from the ground up,” as per the official.
Retraining “from the ground up” raises significant concerns for users worried about the TikTok algorithm potentially losing its effectiveness.
Nevertheless, this appears to be the compromise being sought to ensure TikTok’s continued operation in the US under local oversight.
The report indicates that Oracle would oversee the servers holding data for US users. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, would not gain access to this data or the newly retrained US-based algorithm.
It seems a deal could be reached imminently, as the report states: “Trump plans to sign an executive order this week to officially endorse the transaction.”
It remains uncertain how long the retraining of the algorithm will take, or when US users will begin to notice updates within TikTok. However, changes appear increasingly likely to arrive soon.
