Tech Desk 
Jan 23, 2026
ByteDance, TikTok parent company, on Thursday finalised a deal to begin a majority American-owned joint venture that will safeguard United States (US) data with the aim of preventing ban on the platform, which is being used by over 200 million Americans.
The parent company said TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will secure US user data, apps and algorithms through data privacy and cybersecurity measures. It disclosed few details about the divestiture.
The agreement provides for American and global investors to hold 80.1% of the venture while ByteDance will own 19.9%.
It is important to note that the deal is a milestone for TikTok after years of battles that started in August 2020 when US President Donald Trump tried to ban the short video app amid national security concerns.
Trump later opted not to enforce a law passed in April 2024 requiring ByteDance to sell its US assets by the following January or face a ban - a measure upheld by the Supreme Court.
In its social post, Trump lauded the deal saying TikTok "will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World."
TikTok said investors in the venture include Dell Family Office - investment firm of Dell Technologies (DELL.N), opens new tab founder Michael Dell - plus Vastmere Strategic Investments, Alpha Wave Partners, Revolution, Merritt Way, Via Nova, Virgo LI and NJJ Capital.
ByteDance said the venture will retrain, test and update TikTok's content recommendation algorithm on US user data and the algorithm will be secured in Oracle's U.S. cloud.
