Trump unhappy with proposed TikTok-Oracle deal

American president Donald Trump does not want the Chinese tech company ByteDance to hold a controlling interest in the American branch of TikTok video application. Sources inside the White House reported it. According to Trump, confidential data from Americans could fall into Chinese hands.

ByteDance is committed to making a quick agreement with the Trump government to prevent a ban on the popular app in the US. That ban could come into effect next week.

ByteDance recently signed an agreement with the American software company Oracle. He suggested we start managing American data. ByteDance would further transfer all TikTok’s activities, not only the American ones, to a company based in the US.

That agreement needs approval from both the US and the Chinese authorities. In ByteDance, however, there is growing confidence that Beijing will at least agree to it.

China strongly opposes ByteDance’s sale of the algorithms of TikTok, as they represent a large part of the company’s value. That is why the Asian country has allegedly adjusted its export rules in such a way that the sale of artificial intelligence technology from Beijing also requires the green light. According to sources in Beijing, the deal as it is now before us, whereby ByteDance controls it, could be agreed.

It is unclear whether ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is willing to give up the ownership of the app, which is seen as a challenger for Google and Facebook, for the most part. As long as he holds a firm grip on technology, at least he has Peking by his side.