(Credit: Jens Kalaene/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
The Trump administration is working on a plan to save TikTok involving enterprise software giant Oracle and a group of investors, NPR reports.
In the proposed deal, Oracle would acquire the majority of the company while TikTok’s current owner, China-based ByteDance, would retain a minority share. Oracle would handle things like collecting data on US users and the app’s algorithm as well as software updates.
Oracle execs met with White House staff on Friday, NPR says, though "terms of the deal could change and are still being hammered out."
TikTok briefly went dark last week as a law requiring TikTok to divest from its Chinese owners or face a ban went into effect. The app returned within hours, though it's still absent from Apple and Google's app stores as they seek to avoid fees of $5,000 per user as outlined by the law.
Hours after his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order telling the Department of Justice "not to take any action to enforce the act...or impose any penalties against any entity for any noncompliance" for 75 days as the White House looks to secure a deal.
Microsoft reportedly participated in recent talks about a takeover, though it declined to comment to NPR. Microsoft also considered an acquisition in 2020, when a previous Trump executive order called for the same thing: divest or face a ban. A year later, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called the experience "the strangest thing I ever worked on."
Walmart was also in play for a time, but that was shelved as Joe Biden took office. According to NPR, Walmart thought TikTok was asking for too much money.
Instead, ByteDance struck a deal with Oracle to route TikTok US user traffic through the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. ByteDance, however, has maintained ownership.
TikTok has said repeatedly that it would rather go dark in the US than sell. But a string of losses in US courts and the Supreme Court may have changed its mind. TikTok currently has 170 million US users, many of whom earn their living from the app.