Suranjana Tevari, BBC Economics
Lili Jamali, BBC Technology
TikTok has reached an agreement that will allow the popular short-video sharing app to continue operating in the United States.
The agreement was reached after a years-long conflict between Washington and Beijing, which began during Donald Trump's first term, when the US president unsuccessfully tried to ban the application, citing national security concerns.
The platform was supposed to be banned in the US in January 2025 if Chinese owner ByteDance did not sell TikTok to American investors by then.
But Trump then delayed the implementation of a measure that would have shut down the platform for US users from early 2025.
The main reason for the controversy is TikTok's powerful algorithm that dictates what content will be recommended to users.
Now this algorithm has been transferred to American owners and in the future it will be developed based on data coming only from America.
Experts say this will certainly cause changes, but it is not yet known how it will actually affect the 200 million Americans who use the app.
What was agreed?
Washington has been pressuring TikTok for years to sell its US operations, citing national security concerns because the platform is owned by a Chinese company.
Lawmakers have argued that Beijing could force ByteDance to hand over data on American users to Chinese authorities.
TikTok and ByteDance have rejected this possibility.
In 2024, then-US President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban TikTok in the US if ByteDance did not sell it.
In January 2024, the app stopped working for US users for 12 to 14 hours.
It began to function again after Trump, who was not yet officially president at that time, decided to lift the ban.
- What is TikTok?
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In September 2025, Trump announced that he had reached an agreement with China to allow the app to continue operating in America.
Then, in December, an agreement was signed between the United States and global investors to continue TikTok's operations in the United States, according to a letter from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chu.
The details of this agreement were presented in TikTok's latest statement.
According to the agreement, a new company will be established TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which will protect American users' data, applications, and algorithms using cybersecurity measures.
Trump spoke out about the deal, writing on social media that he was "very happy to have helped save TikTok."
The BBC has requested comment from the White House and the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
Who owns TikTok in America now?
TikTok says the new joint venture will operate as an independent company, governed by a seven-member board, most of whom are from the United States.
Adam Presser, who previously worked for WarenerMedia, was appointed executive director.
Three major investors, each with a 15 percent stake, will manage TikTok's operations in the US.
- Orakl (Oracle infrastructures ) - a technology giant headed by Larry Ellison, a major financier of the ruling Republican Party and a longtime Trump ally
- Silver Lake - an American investment firm, which claims to manage assets worth $116 billion
- MGX - investor from the United Arab Emirates in the field of artificial intelligence and technology
Oracle will be responsible for the data security of TikTok users in the US and will oversee the development of the app's algorithm.
ByteDance will retain a 19,9 percent stake in the company.
The remaining 35,1 percent will be owned by a group of companies, including the firm of technology executive Michael Dell, another Trump ally.
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