Oracle Firm Takes over TikTok’s US

Oracle announced won a deal to manage TikTok’s US cloud operations. It had been rumored to be part of the bidding process to acquire TikTok.

According to The Wall Street Journal that the company has been selected as a trusted tech partner instead. This is different from an outright sale, and appears to suggest Oracle will be helping run TikTok’s US operations with its own cloud technologies.

Oracle has a history of collaboration with the US government, making its partnership with TikTok a strategic move amid the growing undercurrent of Chinese opposition running through the White House and Congress.

On other hand, Oracle’s executives have close ties to the president, and the company may be well positioned to meet Trump’s expectations after the president took an active role in raising concerns about TikTok. The deal would probably involve Oracle, a business software giant best known for selling database technology to corporations to help run their operations, taking a stake in the company.

In contrast, the application received lots of controversy from U.S. lawmakers and the Trump administration over national security concerns due to China’s ByteDance owning the technology. The company currently faces a deadline of Sept. 15 to either sell its U.S. operations to Microsoft Corp or being banned throughout America.

Under a Chinese law introduced in 2017, companies have an obligation to support and cooperate in the country’s national intelligence work.

TikTok has previously said its growing U.S. team has no higher priority than promoting a safe social media experience that protects users’ privacy. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last month, TikTok said it was working with experts from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to “protect against foreign influence” and fact-check potential misinformation about the election.