Highlights:
- The current plan between TikTok and Oracle does not involve the transfer of any algorithms
- Statement from Oracle offered a different view of the transaction
- Trump has put national security at the centre of his Presidential re-election campaign
Earlier a deal that would restructure the ownership of the popular small video-sharing app TikTok was thrown into doubt on Monday when the US President Donald Trump vowed that he will block any deal which will allow its Chinese parent firm, ByteDance, to retain any control.
The comments stirred fresh turmoil over the weekend deal which appeared to have averted the US-ordered ban on TikTok where the Trump administration had called a national security risk and had threatened to ban the app if the owner does not change in the US.
In the proposed deal, the Silicon Valley giant Oracle would have become the data partner for TikTok, with the retail giant Walmart also taking a stake in a new entity that was supposed to be called TikTok Global.
However, the details of the plan remained unclear, amidst differing accounts on the American and Chinese shares of the new firm, and who would be in control of the data and algorithms.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump said that the TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance “will have nothing to do with it, and if they do, then we just won’t make the deal.”
He added that both Oracle and Walmart, “are going to own the controlling interest. Everything is going to be moved into a cloud done by Oracle… and it’s going to be controlled – totally controlled by Oracle.”
Later in the day, Trump told reporters the deal was “working its way through,” and added, “I’ve given a preliminary OK.”
The Chinese firm, ByteDance, is under tremendous pressure in China on not giving in to the demands from the US, said it would hold an 80% stake in TikTok Global after a public share offering.
ByteDance also said that the current plan “does not involve the transfer of any algorithms and technologies,” and that reports to the contrary were merely just “rumors.”
A separate statement from Oracle offered a different view of the transaction.
Vice President of Oracle, Ken Glueck said, “Upon creation of TikTok Global, Oracle/Walmart will make their investment and the TikTok Global shares will be distributed to their owners, Americans will be the majority and ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global,”.
TikTok, which became a global phenomenon with its brand of short yet addictive videos has over 100 million (10 crores) users in the US and has come under fire in recent months as tensions escalate between China and the west.
