What a whirlpool of a Monday! Immediately after news broke that Microsoft is no longer in the picture in bidding for TikTok’s U.S. operations, and claims began surfacing that Oracle is the winner, China’s state broadcaster CGTN reported that ByteDance, the app’s developer, will not sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to either Microsoft or Oracle, citing sources.
ByteDance, the globe’s most popular startup credited with a groundbreaking algorithmic content recommendation for short videos, a main key to why TikTok is so valued, won’t give its source code to any U.S. buyers, sources informed CGTN.
A source told the South China Morning Post a few hours ago that the tech company has decided not to sell or transfer the source code that makes its popular video app function. ByteDance said it wouldn’t comment on any market rumors.
No Deal for Oracle
However, the time is passing for TikTok. Beijing was allegedly absent from ByteDance’s negotiations with Washington in the first days, but that appears to have changed as the deal’s deadline approaches, with the United States government threatening to ban the service in 45 days from August 6th (September 20th) if ByteDance did not find a local purchaser for the company.
First, the Chinese government changed its export rules that could hinder the transfer or sale of ByteDance’s recommendation algorithms, and now there’s the report disproving rumors that Oracle has secured the deal. The acquisition of TikTok’s U.S. operations has been speculated to be for $50 billion, as per some reports.
ByteDance’s rise to popularity is closely associated with its use of algorithm to serve up videos, memes, news articles, and other types of content on its numerous apps. Machine learning removes the need for human curation and even social and interest graphs, creating virtuous cycles within the company’s services. The data-lead process surpasses cultural differences, and that is why TikTok became the first consumer app from China to dominate the West.
