In September 2020, ByteDance officially rejected 's bid to acquire the U.S. operations of TikTok, opting instead to name Oracle Corporation as its "trusted technology partner" . This decision marked the culmination of a high-stakes geopolitical tug-of-war triggered by the Trump administration's executive orders, which threatened to ban the app due to national security concerns regarding its Chinese ownership. The Rejection of Microsoft's Bid
: Microsoft insisted on taking full control of TikTok’s recommendation engine to address disinformation and security concerns. chosen tech microsoft rejected partner oracle tiktok
: Beijing introduced new regulations in August 2020 that restricted the export of artificial intelligence technology, effectively blocking ByteDance from selling the app's "secret sauce" algorithm to a foreign entity. In September 2020, ByteDance officially rejected 's bid
Microsoft, which partnered with for its bid, was initially considered the frontrunner. However, the tech giant’s proposal was built on a complete acquisition of TikTok's U.S. operations, including the underlying code and algorithms. The Rejection of Microsoft's Bid : Microsoft insisted
: Microsoft's commitment to "significant changes" to meet high security and privacy standards was ultimately incompatible with ByteDance’s desire to retain its core technology. Why Oracle Was Chosen