TikTok Parent Company ByteDance Halts TikTok Sale Negotiations

"Once Trump Leaves, the Reason for Sale Negotiations Disappears"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] ByteDance, the parent company of the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, has halted negotiations to sell TikTok's shares to the American company Oracle. This is interpreted as the momentum for the TikTok sale negotiations, which were led by former U.S. President Donald Trump, disappearing after his departure from office.

On the 15th, Hong Kong media South China Morning Post (SCMP) cited sources saying, "After former President Trump left office, ByteDance stopped the TikTok sale negotiations with Oracle." According to the sources, the negotiations were intended to meet the demands of the Trump administration, and since the former president left the White House, the reason for the negotiations no longer exists.

Earlier, on the 10th, the U.S. Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that President Joe Biden's administration has indefinitely suspended the enforcement of the executive order requiring the sale of TikTok, as part of a review of the Trump administration's policies toward Chinese IT companies.

WSJ stated, "Currently, U.S. national security officials and ByteDance are continuing discussions on how to manage the personal data of American users." It added, "One promising solution emerging is entrusting the management of TikTok user data in the U.S. to a trusted third party approved by the U.S. government."

SCMP, confirming WSJ's report, said, "ByteDance is considering new plans related to its U.S. business." It further reported that ByteDance believes Larry Ellison, the founder and chairman of Oracle who was a supporter of former President Trump, has lost interest in the TikTok sale negotiations following Biden's presidential victory.

SCMP also cited another source revealing that the Chinese government has issued guidelines related to the TikTok negotiations.

The first guideline involves the Chinese government revising the list of technologies that cannot be exported without official approval at the end of August last year, including TikTok's core software, the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm. This guideline is interpreted as a countermeasure by the Chinese government against the U.S. forced sale order of TikTok by banning the export of TikTok's core technology. As a result, there is a possibility that the U.S. might end up acquiring a "hollow TikTok" without the AI algorithm.

The other guideline is that "ByteDance should not appear to be kneeling before the U.S. government." The source explained that the reason for this guideline is that "(complying with the U.S. government's demands) would set a bad precedent for other Chinese companies."

Previously, former President Trump issued an executive order on August 14 last year, demanding the sale of TikTok's U.S. business to an American company, citing national security threats due to the Chinese government potentially accessing personal information of up to 100 million U.S. users through TikTok. Since then, ByteDance has been negotiating the sale of TikTok shares with Oracle, a U.S. software company.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.