TikTok becomes U.S. company, launches joint venture with Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX
TikTok has established a new company, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, based in the United States, to comply with the country’s regulatory requirements and ease concerns over data security.
The company announced on Friday that the joint venture was set up in line with a September 25, 2025, executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which mandated stronger security measures for U.S. user data, security, and content moderation.
The move allows TikTok to continue operating for more than 200 million American users and about 7.5 million businesses on the platform.
The announcement came after a group of American and foreign investors signed a deal in December 2025 with TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to form a new TikTok U.S. company.
Under the agreement, Oracle, Silver Lake, and Emirati investment firm MGX each took a 15 percent stake, while ByteDance retained 19.9 percent ownership.
In a memo to staff at the time, TikTok chief executive Shou Chew said the agreements would ensure the platform could “continue to grow and thrive in the U.S. and around the world,” while keeping its focus on users, creators, and businesses.
Friday’s announcement confirmed that the joint venture will operate as a majority American-owned company with a seven-member board of directors, including representatives from TikTok, Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, as well as an independent director overseeing security matters.
As part of the new structure, U.S. user data will be stored locally in Oracle’s secure cloud infrastructure, with the joint venture running a data privacy and cybersecurity programme audited by third-party experts.
TikTok said its content recommendation algorithm will be retrained and updated using U.S. user data, and that the algorithm will be secured within Oracle’s U.S. systems to prevent external manipulation.
Adam Presser, former head of TikTok’s trust and safety team, has been appointed chief executive officer of TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, while Will Farrell, who previously led the company’s privacy and security work, was named chief security officer.
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