Oracle Corp. Wins Bid for TikTok’s Operations in the United States

Oracle Corp. has won the bidding for the US operations of the popular video-sharing app TikTok, the Wall Street Journal first reported Sunday evening (September 13).

The deal should satisfy an executive order signed by President Trump in August calling for the Chinese-based developer ByteDance to divest their operations in the United States, amid growing tensions between the United States and China.

“Oracle will not outright buy TikTok's U.S. business,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “Instead, it will be announced as a ‘trusted tech partner.’”

Earlier in the evening, several outlets reported that ByteDance (TikTok’s operator) had rejected a bid from Microsoft to serve as their preferred partner in the United States for operations.

Back in early August, an executive order was signed by President Trump that ordered the app to divest their business in the United States.

Federal officials (including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo) said the United States was considering banning TikTok as well as other Chinese social media apps amid national security concerns earlier this year. They have expressed concerns about Chinese tech companies harvesting the data of United States citizens.

The concerns about the safety and security of the app reach over the aisle to both major political parties. The Democratic and Republican national committees have both issued warnings to their staffs about using the app TikTok in August, CNN reports.

TikTok has fought those claims saying that they store the data of their American users in servers in the U.S. and Singapore. They have even filed suit against President Trump calling the move a "pretext for furthering the President's broader campaign of anti-China rhetoric in the run-up to the U.S. election," according to reports. 

This is not the first app that will be forced to make such a business move. Earlier this year, the Chinese owners of Grindr, the world's most popular gay dating app, were forced by the U.S. government to reach a deal to sell their platform.

Grindr's parent company, Beijing Kunlun Tech, disposed of the app in early March. It was acquired by San Vicente Acquisition for about $608.5 million, the LA Times reports.

ByteDance and TikTok have not yet commented on tonight's news.