TikTok Ban Averted, Trump gives “blessing” to U.S. TikTok partnership with Oracle and Walmart
Trump Bless TikTok Oracle Walmart Partnership
President Donald Trump has expressed his approval of a deal that would allow Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok to continue operating in the US.
Trump has targeted Chinese owned TikTok for national security and data privacy concerns.
President Trumps support for a deal comes just a day after the Commerce Department announced restrictions that if put in place could eventually make it nearly impossible for TikTok’s fans to use the app.
Now, it seems the decision has been reversed at least for TikTok. President Donald Trump said he approved of a new deal made by TikTok, Walmart, and Oracle.
Trump said if completed the deal would create a new company likely to be based in Texas.
What is the proposed deal?
The deal would see the establishment of a new company, dubbed TikTok Global. That company would be headquartered in the US, possibly in the state of Texas, with a majority of American directors, a US chief executive and a security expert on the board.
Oracle and Walmart are expected to take significant stakes in the company, and ByteDance has agreed to security safeguards on the data of US users. TikTok’s data would be stored by Oracle, which would have the right to inspect its source code.
Mr. Trump said the new company will be hiring at least 25,000 people and making a $5 billion contribution to a fund dedicated to education for Americans. “That’s their contribution that I’ve been asking for,” he said.
TikTok said Oracle and Walmart could acquire up to a cumulative 20% stake in the new company in a financing round to be held before an initial public offering of stock, which Walmart said could happen within the next year. Oracle’s stake would be 12.5%, and Walmart’s would be 7.5%, the companies said in separate statements.
Oracle will be responsible for hosting all TikTok’s U.S. user data and securing computer systems to ensure U.S. national security requirements are satisfied. Walmart said it will provide its ecommerce, fulfillment, payments and other services to the new company.
In addition, TikTok Global said it will develop an educational curriculum driven by artificial intelligence to teach children basic reading, history and other subjects. It comes just days after Trump said he is creating a commission to promote “patriotic education” to counter the teaching of American slavery and racism in classrooms.
