TikTok was temporarily saved from a US ban earlier this year, but a key deadline is coming up that could see the ban reinstated. According to a new report, President Trump’s plan to stop that from happening is a new company called “TikTok America.”
New TikTok America company would have split ownership, but likely wouldn’t impact user experience
Kaya Yurieff writes at The Information:
President Donald Trump plans to announce later on Wednesday his plan for a new company called TikTok America, part of his efforts to broker a deal to keep TikTok alive in the U.S., according to a person close to the discussions.
It’s unclear whether the Trump administration has approval for the proposed structure from the Chinese government. Under Trump’s proposal, TikTok America would be roughly 50% owned by new U.S. investors and license TikTok’s algorithm from ByteDance, the person said. Existing investors in ByteDance would have a roughly one-third stake in the new company, while ByteDance would retain a 19.9% stake.
The beginning of that second paragraph is especially key.
Although it sounds like Trump intends to announce his plan very soon, it’s unknown whether ByteDance and/or the Chinese government are actually on board or not.
If they are, then “TikTok America” could prove a lasting solution to the seemingly never-ending drama around TikTok and the US.
Hopefully this change would come with zero impact to users, since presumably the same TikTok app would continue being available with the same algorithm.
To comply with the law, however, it would just be primarily owned by US stakeholders.
It will be interesting to see how the details shake out over the next few days, but for now, it seems things are happening in an attempt to secure TikTok’s ongoing presence in the US.
What do you think is going to happen with TikTok? Let us know in the comments.
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