Oracle To 'Retrain' TikTok In US, Shares Surge Nearly 3%
A copy of the algorithm would be leased ByteDance by the owners of the US-based TikTok, which Oracle will then use to retrain 'from the ground up'.
Oracle's stock rose more than 3% within an hour of the US market opening after it was reported that it would recreate and provide security for a new US version of TikTok's algorithm under a deal to sell the app to a consortium of American investors, as per Bloomberg reports.
For this purpose, Oracle will study the algorithm, and data from US users would be stored in a secure cloud handled by Oracle with controls established to keep out China, and other foreign adversaries.
A copy of the algorithm would be leased from ByteDance by the owners of the US-based TikTok, which Oracle will then use to retrain "from the ground up," according to the official.
Moreover, the Larry Ellison founded company will operate in collaboration with the US government on everything from algorithm retraining to application development and source code review.
"Oracle, the U.S. security partner, will operate, retrain, and continuously monitor the U.S. algorithm to ensure content is free from improper manipulation or surveillance," Bloomberg quoted the official as saying during an Q&A.
ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese owner of short-video streaming platform TikTok, will hold only 20% of the company's US-based entity, an American official was reported as saying by Bloomberg on Monday.
US President Donald Trump will extend the pause on TikTok ban by another 20 days, the official said, suggesting that the deal is expected to be finalised in the next few days.
The official added that the deal will come into effect 120 days after signing. While the deal is nearing finality, the valuation for TikTok has not been finalised. Additionally, the officials said that the deal will likely be in billions of Dollars.
Officials have confirmed that Trump will sign an executive order approving the deal next week. The executive order will approve a deal to sell the US operations of TikTok to a group of investors.
They further added that the TikTok will be operated by US entity, and the consortium will consist of US and global investors. They also showed confidence that China will approve the TikTok deal. The officials clarified that US will not take any equity stake in the TikTok. There will be no "golden share" and no US-government selected board member on the entity.
