Since 2019, TikTok has brought memes, dances, and “day in the life” videos to almost every American household. With 135-179 million monthly active users in the US, what this Beijing-based company is doing with all this data is a major concern. Over the last seven years, both the Trump and Biden Administrations have expressed concerns that the company could share American citizens’ data with China. This led Trump to give TikTok an ultimatum in 2020, saying that unless the platform was sold to an American company, it would be banned. TikTok wasn’t sold, and a nationwide ban took effect on January 19, 2025. However, the ban lasted only 14 hours, with the President pausing it, hoping to find alternatives to keep the platform in America.
In January 2026, a new agreement was finally reached. This gave ownership of American TikTok to non-Chinese firms, allowing the remaining 19.9% to go to the original owner, ByteDance. To be clear: ByteDance still owns Global TikTok; only ownership of American TikTok has changed. Oracle will own 15% of US TikTok, with the responsibility of overseeing the security of Americans’ data and monitoring changes to TikTok’s recommendation algorithm. MGX, an Emirati company focused on AI and technology investments, will own another 15% of the company. Silver Lake, an investment company based in California, will also own 15% of the company. The rest will be owned by investment firms and individual investors, including Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Technologies.
Even with these changes, the algorithm shouldn’t change enough for viewers to notice a difference. That said, some of the company’s notable shareholders have previously entered into major deals with President Trump’s companies, prompting concerns that U.S. user data might now be accessible to the U.S. government rather than China. Even still, one thing remains certain: TikTok is here to stay for a while.