White House Moves to Secure TikTok Algorithm Control Amid Negotiations with China

Wed Oct 22 2025 01:52:55 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

In a significant development, the White House has revealed plans for US companies to control TikTok's algorithm, as part of a deal aimed at addressing national security concerns regarding the Chinese-owned app.

The Biden administration has announced that under an upcoming agreement, US firms will take control of TikTok's algorithm and six out of seven board seats will be held by American stakeholders. This move comes as part of ongoing negotiations with China and aims to alleviate national security concerns linked to the app's Chinese ownership. While a deal is anticipated to be approved shortly, responses from China have yet to be clarified.

The White House has announced that US companies will now control TikTok's algorithm and Americans will hold six of seven board seats for the app's US operations in a much-anticipated deal with China.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said a deal could be signed in the coming days, but Beijing is yet to comment.

The US has sought to take the video-sharing app's US operations away from Chinese parent company ByteDance for national security reasons.

TikTok was previously told it had to sell its US operations or risk being shut down.

But US President Donald Trump delayed implementing the ban four times since it was first announced in January, and earlier this week extended the deadline again to December.

Leavitt stated that data and privacy for the app in the US will be led by tech giant Oracle, which is owned by Larry Ellison, one of the world's richest people and a Trump ally. The data and privacy will be led by one of America's greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America as well, she told Fox News.

Details on this significant deal have already been agreed upon, with the necessity to finalize the signing remaining.

Trump claimed during a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping that they approved a deal regarding TikTok's US operations, although there was no confirmation from Beijing. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the call was productive and that he appreciated Xi's approval of the deal, which is expected to see TikTok's US business sold to a group of US investors.

However, China's official state news agency Xinhua conveyed a less definitive outcome, indicating that Xi welcomed negotiations over TikTok.

A sticking point in negotiations seems to revolve around ownership of TikTok's influential algorithm that serves content to its 170 million American users.

During a recent press conference, Trump avoided a question regarding whether an American buyer would need to create a new algorithm or could use the existing one.

Initially advocating for a TikTok ban during his first term, Trump has shifted strategies and leveraged the platform to engage with younger voters during his successful 2024 campaign.

Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court upheld a law mandating the app's sale unless ByteDance separated its US operations, causing a temporary suspension of the app.

The US Department of Justice has consistently raised alarms about the national security implications of TikTok's data access to American users.