The TikTok USDS (U.S. Data Security) logo appears on a smartphone screen in this illustration photo in Reno, United States, on Dec. 19, 2025.
Jaque Silva | Nurphoto | Getty Images
TikTok said Thursday that it formed a joint venture that will keep the video-sharing app operating in the United States.
The short-form video company said that Adam Presser will be the CEO of TikTok USDS Joint Venture, while TikTok CEO Shou Chew will be a director. Presser was previously TikTok’s head of operations and trust and safety.
The U.S.-based joint venture will operate as an “independent entity,” TikTok said in its announcement. TikTok USDS Joint Venture “will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users,” the company said.
The joint venture will be governed by a seven-member board of directors, the majority of which are American.
The new entity’s board of directors include Chew, TPG Global senior advisor Timothy Dattels, Susquehanna International Group Mark Dooley, Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban, DXC Technology CEO Raul Fernandez, Oracle executive vice president Kenneth Glueck, and MGX chief strategy and safety officer David Scott.
TikTok parent ByteDance will retain 19.9% of the new newly created joint venture, the company said. Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX are the new U.S. joint venture’s three managing investors. Other investors include the investment firm of Dell Technologies chief Michael Dell, Vastmere Strategic Investments, Alpha Wave Partners, Revolution, and General Atlantic affiliate Via Nova, among others.
ByteDance was subject to a national security law, originally signed by former President Joe Biden, that required the Chinese tech giant to sell its U.S. operations or be effectively banned in the country. But that national security law was never enacted due to several executive orders signed by President Donald Trump throughout 2025.
Those executive orders directed the attorney general from enforcing the national security law while the app’s leaders searched for a buyer.
“Interoperability enables the Joint Venture to provide U.S. users with a global TikTok experience, ensuring U.S. creators can be discovered and businesses can operate on a global scale,” the company said in a statement. “TikTok global’s U.S. entities will manage global product interoperability and certain commercial activities, including e-commerce, advertising, and marketing.”
TikTok’s prized content-recommendation algorithm will now be hosted within Oracle’s American data centers, and it will be retrained, tested and updated on U.S. user data, the company said.
TikTok’s new U.S.-based corporate structure also helps keep sibling apps like CapCut, Lemon8 and other unspecified services and websites operational in America, the company said.
Although the Chinese government hasn’t officially commented about the the deal, President Trump said in September that the country’s President Xi Jinping agreed to move forward with the proposed deal that was codified that month via an executive order. At the time, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said that there was “some resistance” from the Chinese government to support the deal, which he said values TikTok’s U.S. business at $14 billion.
Semafor reported earlier on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter, that the U.S. and Chinese governments have signed off on the sale of TikTok’s U.S. business and that the deal was set to close this week.
Chew revealed the name of TikTok’s U.S. entity to employees in December and said it signed an agreement to form a new U.S. joint venture, CNBC reported.
This news is developing, check back for updates.
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