TikTok's U.S. survival hinges on an algorithm overhaul overseen by Oracle

The Trump administration has outlined a plan that would put Oracle in charge of safeguarding TikTok’s recommendation system, a senior White House official said today. The proposal is designed to ease U.S. concerns that the app could be steered by Beijing, while keeping TikTok available for the 170m people who use it in America.

The recommendation engine, which decides what videos appear in a user’s feed, sits at the center of the dispute. Often described as the app’s most important feature, its secret sauce, it is also the focus of security worries. U.S. officials argue that because it was created by ByteDance, based in Beijing, the Chinese government could influence what users see by pushing or hiding certain content without detection.

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“It wouldn’t be in compliance if the algorithm is Chinese. There can’t be any shared algorithm with ByteDance,” a spokesperson for the House Select Committee on China said.

That view has led the White House to push for TikTok’s core technology to be separated from its Chinese parent if the platform is to continue operating in the U.S.

The proposal would give Oracle a licensed copy of the algorithm, along with the responsibility to review its source code and monitor its activity on American servers.

A senior official told reporters the copy would be “fully inspected” and retrained with U.S. data, a process they said would ensure the system is “behaving appropriately.” What is not yet clear is whether retraining the algorithm could result in a U.S.-specific version of TikTok that differs from the global service.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed that point, saying, “TikTok users in the U.S. will be able to see videos posted by users in other countries and vice versa.”

The administration has not explained in detail how that would work if two versions of the algorithm develop in different ways.

Saving TikTok

President Trump is expected to sign an executive order later this week confirming the framework, which would pause any ban for 120 days while negotiations continue. Officials said they expect Beijing to sign off on the outline of the deal by the end of the week.

The structure of TikTok’s U.S. business is still under discussion. Oracle and private equity firm Silver Lake are confirmed members of the new joint venture, which will have a board dominated by American directors. A White House official noted that the U.S. government itself will not hold shares or occupy seats on the board.

TikTok already stores American user data on Oracle servers through an arrangement called Project Texas, created to restrict potential access from China. The new plan would expand that arrangement beyond storage, extending it to the algorithm itself and its security oversight.

What do you think about Oracle taking over TikTok’s algorithm? Let us know in the comments.

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