TikTok Dodges US Ban by Creating Very Confusing LLC That Nobody Understands
KEY POINTS
- •TikTok announced on a Tuesday that its US service operates under a new LLC, TikTok USDS Joint Venture.
- •ByteDance now holds only 19.9% stake, ceding control to Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and Michael Dell's family firm.
- •Oracle will handle US data storage, overseeing content algorithm retraining, while lawmakers remain bemused by the arrangement.
In a grand circus of corporate contortions, TikTok finally wrapped up a deal a year late to dodge a law designed to ban it. The new savior? TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a fresh creature where China-based ByteDance holds a modest 19.9% slice, giving Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and even Michael Dell’s family their seats at the table. Oracle gets the coveted role of US data babysitter, while the joint venture promises to retrain and update the mysterious recommendation algorithm, as if an AI can just forget its questionable tastes overnight. Meanwhile, lawmakers seem as lost as ever, unsure whether to applaud or panic.
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(1 of 3)TikTok sidesteps a ban by creating an LLC so baffling even Congress needs a minute—Spoiler: nobody gets it, not even TikTok.
The TikTok deal is basically corporate musical chairs where ByteDance gambled away its majority, and Michael Dell’s family quietly got VIP passes.
If rebooting TikTok's algorithm was a cover band, Oracle along with Silver Lake and MGX just got front row seats with ByteDance barely invited.
Source: Theverge | Published: 1/23/2026 | Author: Lauren Feiner
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