AILSA CHANG, HOST:
President Trump has announced a deal on TikTok. The president signed an executive order today declaring that a group of American investors are set to take over the app's U.S. operations. For more on this deal and how it could change TikTok, we're joined now by NPR's Bobby Allyn. Hey, Bobby.
BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: Hey. What's up, Ailsa?
CHANG: Hey. OK, so the president, I mean, he's been promising a deal on TikTok for months now, like, basically since before he was even inaugurated. So what was actually unveiled today?
ALLYN: Yeah. The big news is that Trump says TikTok now complies with federal law. He revealed a group of American investors who are going to pool their money together and take over TikTok's U.S. operations, as you mentioned. And this group includes Michael Dell, the Murdoch family and software and cloud infrastructure company Oracle, which is going to have a huge role here. Oracle will be managing the security of Americans' data. Oracle's going to oversee how the algorithm is pushing videos to people. The idea, Ailsa, is that, you know, Oracle can keep out any possible Chinese influence.
But China here is not totally out of the picture, right? Beijing-based ByteDance is expected to have just under 20% of U.S. TikTok, and TikTok will be using an algorithm developed by ByteDance, but a version of it is set to be licensed specifically for American users. So people hearing this who are on TikTok, look, you won't have to download a new app. These changes are going to happen in the background, and honestly, you probably won't notice them. Here's Vice President Vance talking about the deal just a little bit ago from the Oval Office.
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JD VANCE: The U.S. company will have control over how the algorithm pushes content to users, and that was a very important part of it. We thought it was necessary for the national security element of the law. We also just think it's important to protect American users.
CHANG: Wait, let me just make sure I understand this, Bobby. TikTok's app in the U.S. will have new owners. OK. So does this really solve the main concerns with the app? Like, could this apps (ph) be a possible tool for Chinese influence over Americans?
ALLYN: Yeah. So the big fear with TikTok has always been China. TikTok, as we know, is owned by ByteDance in Beijing, and many have been concerned for a long time that that meant that, you know, TikTok might push videos that favor China's view of the world, that the app could be used as some kind of surveillance tool, you know, to spy on Americans. Now, there is no public evidence that either of these things have ever come to pass, but that fear alone was enough to motivate Congress to pass a law that essentially said, look, TikTok, you either cut ties with China or you're totally banned in the U.S. That law has been extended a number of times now by President Trump.
And now the White House is saying, we have a plan now that does establish a firewall between the U.S. and China. Chinese influence will be kept out. But this is really up for debate, especially since ByteDance is going to maintain a stake of the app and the algorithm it's using is still owned by ByteDance.
CHANG: Yeah. OK, well, you mentioned Oracle will have a big role here. What is Oracle getting from this deal, you think?
ALLYN: Money and influence. Even before this deal, Oracle brought on TikTok as one of their biggest customers for cloud data storage, so that kind of set the stage on a technical level. But the politics here really matter, Ailsa. Larry Ellison is Oracle's co-founder, has been a close ally of President Trump and has been really ingratiating himself with the president in recent months. And now it looks like he has been rewarded with a huge stake in TikTok, which is quite the prize. I mean, the app is used by more than half of America.
A new survey came out today showing that a fifth of adults now get their news on TikTok, so it is quite influential. And it's just the latest win for the Ellison family media empire. Larry Ellison's son, David, now runs Paramount and CBS and is now looking at a possible CNN parent company bid. So look, having sway over TikTok only extends the Ellison family's reach into more America media and entertainment.
CHANG: So interesting. That is NPR's Bobby Allyn. Thank you, Bobby.
ALLYN: Thanks, Ailsa.
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