WASHINGTON — With less than a week remaining before the latest congressional deadline for ByteDance to divest its US TikTok operations, the Oracle-led consortium vying to acquire the platform faces mounting pressure to satisfy national security requirements laid out by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed Monday that his department is conducting a final review of the revised acquisition structure, which would see Oracle take a controlling 50.1% stake in a newly formed US entity called TikTok America, with minority investors including General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, and a sovereign wealth fund contribution from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The deal values TikTok's US operations at approximately $45 billion, down from earlier estimates that exceeded $60 billion.
The sticking point remains the algorithm. CFIUS negotiators have insisted that ByteDance's core recommendation engine — widely considered TikTok's most valuable intellectual property — must either be fully transferred to the US entity or rebuilt from scratch within 12 months. Beijing has signaled through state media that it would block any export of the algorithm under China's technology export control laws, creating a diplomatic standoff that has persisted for over two years.
President Trump, who initially pushed for a ban before reversing course to favor a sale, posted on Truth Social over the weekend that a deal was "very close" and that he had spoken with "top people" on both sides. White House officials declined to elaborate but confirmed that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has been in direct communication with Oracle CEO Safra Catz throughout the weekend.
Analysts remain divided on whether the deal will close by the March 20 deadline. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities called the situation "a 55-45 proposition" in favor of yet another extension, noting that Congress has already pushed back the deadline three times since the original January 2025 cutoff. If no deal is reached, the Justice Department would be required to enforce a ban on TikTok's US operations, potentially removing the app from Apple and Google app stores for the second time.
TikTok's 170 million American users have grown increasingly anxious, with the hashtag #SaveTikTok trending for the fourth consecutive week. ByteDance reported in its latest disclosure that US advertising revenue reached $28 billion in 2025, underscoring the enormous commercial stakes of the outcome.