TikTok strikes US joint venture deal to avoid ban

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TikTok said Thursday it has signed a joint venture deal with investors that would allow the company to maintain operations in the United States and avoid a ban threat over its Chinese ownership.

According to an internal memo seen by AFP, TikTok CEO Shou Chew told employees that the social media company and its Chinese owner ByteDance had agreed to the new entity, with Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX on board as major investors.

Oracle’s executive chairman and founder Larry Ellison is a longtime ally of US President Donald Trump.

“The US joint venture will be responsible for US data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance,” Chew said in the memo. Punch