TikTok has closed a deal that will allow the hugely popular short-video app to continue operating in the US, ending years of uncertainty around its future in one of its most important markets. The agreement follows a prolonged tussle between Washington and Beijing that began during Donald Trump’s first term in the White House, when he tried unsuccessfully to ban the app over national security concerns.
TikTok was due to be banned in January 2025 unless its Chinese parent, ByteDance, sold its US operations to American investors. However, President Trump repeatedly delayed the enforcement of the legislation, buying time for negotiations. The core concern throughout was TikTok’s powerful recommendation algorithm, which shapes what users see. That algorithm has now been licensed to a US-controlled entity and will be trained exclusively on American user data.
Experts say the changes will be significant, though the exact impact on the 200 million Americans who use the app remains unclear. What is certain is that TikTok in the US will now operate under tighter political and regulatory constraints.
With nearly one in seven people worldwide using TikTok, the platform has become one of the most influential digital products ever created. For ByteDance, however, the road to global expansion has become increasingly complex.
Under the new deal, TikTok’s US operations are split from ByteDance’s global business and placed under a consortium that includes Oracle. ByteDance will retain a 19.9 percent stake, allowing it to share in profits, but it loses control over the algorithm and data. The licensing deal has been valued by the Trump administration at around $14 billion.
Analysts say TikTok’s strength lies in its content algorithm, which learns from massive volumes of global user data. A US-only algorithm could weaken cross-border virality, potentially reshaping creator earnings and advertising strategies. TikTok’s global revenue was estimated at $20–26 billion in 2024, with nearly $10 billion coming from the US.
ByteDance has faced similar geopolitical setbacks before, most notably in India, where TikTok was banned in 2020. Yet the company has continued to grow, underscoring its resilience.
TikTok is banned in India and remains prohibited as of January 2026. The Indian government blocked the app in June 2020, along with other Chinese apps, citing national security, user privacy, and sovereignty concerns
The US-TikTok deal signals a new model for Chinese tech firms: access to global markets, but only under strict limits. For China’s tech champions, expansion abroad is now as much about politics and control as it is about innovation and growth.