- TikTok sales in the US may end on January 22, 2026
- A new US-led joint venture would take control of the business
- ByteDance would have a minority stake
TikTok’s fortunes in the US have been in flux since Congress passed a law requiring the sale to American owners, and after several extensions of the deadline by the Trump White House, the long-awaited deal may finally take effect.
As reported by CNBC and axiomTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew confirmed that TikTok in the US will be part of a new joint venture called “TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC” in a deal that is set to close on January 22, 2026. Among other new investors, Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will be the three main partners, but they will be shared with the Chinese company’s original owners, but they will be shared with TikTok. will retain a share.
This is a big change for TikTok, which has had a turbulent year in the US. It started with a ban, after which the Trump administration offered some extensions and promised that the company would become American-owned (not fully, but at least 80%). This effectively keeps TikTok available, but it changes the app experience as the algorithm is unlikely to remain intact.
The memo, seen by CNBC, said Shou Zi Chew wrote that the company “will be majority-owned by American investors, governed by a new board with a seven-member majority in the United States, and subject to terms that protect Americans’ data and US national security.”
Much of this effort is focused on US operations, and a central tenet would be to resolve – or at least mitigate – the US national security concerns that were the source of the proposed ban and that led us down this path.
The joint venture will be responsible for protecting US data in the app, including the main algorithm that drives the “For You” feed and what each user sees in the app, as well as content moderation. axiomthose who have seen the memo report that it says: “The content recommendation algorithm will be retrained using US user data to ensure content is free from external manipulation.”
However, the global aspect of TikTok will not disappear completely. ByteDance, the current parent company of TikTok, will continue to have a stake in ‘TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC’ and will also ensure that US TikTok works with other versions of the app.
Recall that the last major update took place in September 2025, when the White House announced that it had negotiated an agreement with China to sell TikTok’s operations in the United States to a new company and an American conglomerate. In 2020, the first Trump administration issued an executive order requiring the sale, marking the start of a year-long process.
However, it appears that TikTok’s US operations may soon move from China-based ByteDance to a new US-run company, a change that could take effect on January 22, 2026.
