The Tamesis
TikTok is officially staying in the United States and is being taken over by new owners. According to the company, on the evening of January 22, the platform announced that it had officially established a joint venture in accordance with the executive order signed by President Donald Trump on September 25, 2025. The news comes a day before Trump’s deadline to transfer ownership from Chinese company ByteDance to a group of U.S. investors.
The new joint venture means TikTok in the United States will be separated from the global TikTok platform, which will remain owned by ByteDance. TikTok US will be run by three management investors, Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX, each holding a 15% stake, as well as a number of other investors. ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake in the joint venture. The creation of the U.S. entity comes after a years-long tug-of-war that saw TikTok’s U.S. operations endure controversy, threats, advances and a brief pause last January.
“The U.S.-controlled joint venture will operate with clear safeguards to protect national security through comprehensive data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance for U.S. users,” the group said in a statement.
For brands and creators, the news should come as a relief after years of administrative whims, leaving their platform-based followings to the whims of officials and ever-changing regulations. But creators are tired of the back-and-forth, with many convinced long before the news broke that TikTok would continue to be available in the U.S., no matter what. U.S. users are also concerned about whether their TikTok algorithm will change under new ownership, which could disrupt the mix of customized content the app is known for. If the algorithm does change, creators and brands will need to quickly adapt to the new playbook to find what works.
But at least the question of whether TikTok will stay in the United States has been resolved. “Overall, this deal is great news for the creator economy and, most importantly, it finally brings clarity to the long-term threat of a U.S. TikTok ban that casts a pall over the entire industry,” said Ed East, CEO and co-founder of influencer marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy. “Despite the uncertainty, TikTok Still continues to thrive, but long-term investment from brands and creators suffers from a lack of stability. “For brands, this newfound stability means investing in TikTok as an advertising platform is a safer bet.
New TikTok?
The joint venture announced that it will “retrain, test and update content recommendation algorithms based on U.S. user data.”
According to social media consultant Matt Navarra, this is the most important sentence in TikTok’s statement. Even if the main algorithm is licensed (and therefore theoretically remains the same), retraining it solely on U.S. user data means that the content it pushes will inevitably change.
“Retraining algorithms based on U.S. user data will not only affect the content people see, but also the culture and behavior of platform optimization,” he said. “In practical terms, this could mean a higher priority on U.S. engagement models; a greater emphasis on brand-safe, advertiser-friendly signals; or perhaps less amplification of fringe or more experimental, chaotic content.”
Experts agree that this is a double-edged sword for brands. On the one hand, this could mean further predictability and stability due to tighter regulation. But on the other hand, the diminished amplification of niche creators and subcultures could inadvertently hurt the brands that have found so much success by exploiting those niches.
Regardless, experts don’t expect the news to impact brand or creator engagement on the platform, other than to bolster confidence in long-term investments. According to research by Billion Dollar Boy, the threat of a ban will have a minimal impact on activity on the TikTok platform. After the ban was announced, the average number of creator posts fell by just 3% (based on activity from over 10,000 creators in the US and UK), while Instagram and YouTube Shorts activity grew by 16% and 14% respectively. “Billion Dollar Boy” East sees this as a sign of the show’s push for diversity rather than exiting the platform entirely.
“Even amid uncertainty, TikTok continues to thrive because it is an important part of the marketing ecosystem and delivers effective results,” East said. “It is a hub for community building, a discovery tool, a primary channel for reaching Gen Z, and a leader in e-commerce. With the deal now complete and the platform more secure than it has been in more than a year, the uncertainty that drove short-term investment will give way to more confidence from creators and brands in the platform and long-term investment.”
