TikTok-owner ByteDance Ltd. is getting more confident its envisioned alliance with Oracle Corp. will pass muster with China’s regulators, a critical step in the political clash over the popular video app, people familiar with the matter said.
While Beijing has asserted its right to block the sale of critical technologies, it is likely to greenlight the deal as long as it doesn’t involve the transfer of the artificial intelligence algorithms that drive TikTok’s service, they said, asking not to be identified discussing a private deal. That’s true even if ByteDance were to cede majority control over TikTok, they said.
ByteDance had reached a deal with Oracle and later made revisions put forward by the Treasury Department aimed at addressing U.S. national security concerns, it was reported Thursday. The proposal calls for ByteDance to own most of TikTok, with Oracle, Walmart Inc. and venture capital investors holding a minority. But U.S. President Donald Trump, who’s threatened to ban the app on national security grounds, has final say on the transaction and has said he doesn’t want the Chinese parent to retain majority control.