TikTok finalizes deal to create US entity and retrain algorithm, avoiding ban |
AP — TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American version, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years on the platform now used by more than 200 million Americans.
The video social media company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX to form the new TikTok US joint venture.
The new version will operate under “defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurances for US users,” the company said in a statement Thursday. American TikTok users can continue using the same app.
US President Donald Trump praised the deal in a Truth Social post, thanking Chinese leader Xi Jinping specifically “for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal.” Trump added that he hopes “that long into the future I will be remembered by those who use and love TikTok.”
The Chinese government has not yet publicly commented on TikTok’s announcement. Earlier on Thursday and ahead of the statement, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, said “China’s position on TikTok has been........