TikTok is officially US-owned for American users, here's what's changing

Summary

TikTok’s future in the US has reached a major milestone today, as the new US-owned spinoff for American users has officially launched. Here’s what that means for TikTok users in the US today, and moving forward. US ownership established for TikTok’s American spinoff One year ago, and very briefly, TikTok shut down in the US. The move was made in compliance with legislation requiring the China-based company sell to American ownership or cease operating in the country. Very quickly though, a series of executive orders ultimately led to TikTok being restored as a process was worked out for the service to keep operating in the US under American ownership. Today, the “TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC” has been formally established as that new ownership. From the press release: Today, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC has been established in compliance with the Executive Order signed by President Trump on September 25, 2025, now enabling more than 200 million Americans and 7.5 million businesses to continue to discover, create, and thrive as part of TikTok’s vibrant global community and experience. The majority American owned Joint Venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users. One question on many US TikTok users’ minds is what this means for the app. Previous reporting said that TikTok’s algorithm would be retrained “from the ground up” by its new ownership. And that’s been confirmed in the press release, along with mentions of other behind-the-scenes changes to expect. What the new TikTok ownership plans to change Here’s everything that the new US-owned TikTok spinoff plans to do, per the press release: Data Protection: U.S. user data will be protected by USDS Joint Venture in Oracle’s secure U.S. cloud environment. The Joint Venture will operate a comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity program that is audited and certifie...