Oracle will be TikTok’s “trusted tech partner” in the U.S. the Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday. The deal that is reportedly set to be announced soon, would apparently fall short of an outright sale of the chinese app.
Microsoft's bid to take over TikTok’s U.S. operations was rejected by the chinese parent company, ByteDance.
Microsoft wrote in a blog post Sunday, "ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement."
The tech giant which was seen as the American technology company with the deepest pockets to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations, did not elaborate on the reasons why the deal fell through. ByteDance declined to comment.
On Aug. 6, President Trump issued an executive order saying that TikTok must essentially strike a deal to sell off its U.S. operations by Sept. 20, over national security and privacy concerns. He later issued a second executive order giving ByteDance a few weeks after that to close a sale.
Microsoft originally confirmed last month that it was pursuing a deal to buy TikTok’s operations in the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Walmart also indicated it was partnering with Microsoft for the bid.
China recently issued new regulations that would essentially bar TikTok from transferring its technology to a foreign buyer without explicit permission from the Chinese government, further complicating negotiations.
ByteDance’s largest backers, Sequoia Capital and General Atlantic, had sought to retain their holdings in its valuable subsidiary while saving TikTok from a ban in the United States. Both firms are represented on ByteDance’s board of directors.