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| Oracle graduates Microsoft and wins TikTok bid |
Oracle reportedly won the U.S.-led bidding war by TikTok that caused Microsoft to withdraw from auctions earlier today.
The Wall Street Journal writes that Oracle, the Trump administration's ally in Silicon Valley, will be named TikTok's trusted technology partner in the US and manage TikTok user data in the US.
Oracle is also in negotiations to buy shares in TikTok in the United States. In addition, the newspaper quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying, "It is unlikely that this deal will be considered a complete sale."
Oracle allegedly bought TikTok in the US, ending the indecisive fate of the US application.
The purchase came before September 20, when the Trump administration banned TikTok from operating unless the company could reach an agreement with the buyer.
But as Trump said last week, there is a lot of confusion about the deadline for TikTok: The deadline will not be extended on September 15th.
Microsoft said in a statement: ByteDance has rejected its offer of TikTok business in the United States. We believe our proposal will benefit TikTok users while protecting national security interests.
Microsoft said it will make major changes to internet security, privacy and disinformation, adding: We look forward to developing services in these important areas.
It is not known how the Beijing Oracle deal will be implemented or approved, which is clearly not satisfied with the forced sale.
Two weeks ago, the Chinese government updated a number of business rules that could prevent the export of AI technologies, for example to allocate TikTok user flows.
The industry generally believes that the updated trade rules are measures that Beijing is taking to make Tik Tok sales more difficult. ByteDance said at the time that it would strictly adhere to the law.
Reuters previously reported that Beijing prefers to shut down TikTok in the US to follow sales orders to Washington, making it appear weak in the face of Washington's pressure.
The source said: Beijing's statement may not include the proprietary TikTok algorithm developed by ByteDance's Beijing office.
This means that Tik Tok activities in the US or its future owners will have to rewrite the code that will help the app take over the world.