By Clare Duffy, CNN

New York (CNN) — Under the proposed deal to transfer TikTok’s US assets to a majority American ownership group, the app’s algorithm will be operated in the United States and overseen by Oracle, according to William Martin, communications director for Vice President JD Vance.

The statement, made in an X post on Monday, addresses what had been one of the big outstanding questions as the White House pushes ahead to finalize the TikTok sale, after President Donald Trump said he made progress toward the deal in a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.

The TikTok algorithm determines what users see in their feeds and is a major factor in its popularity. The TikTok ban-or-sale law prohibits “any cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm” between a new potential American ownership group and a China-based company.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Saturday that the deal will likely be signed in “the coming days.”

If completed, the deal is expected to conclude the yearslong effort to place TikTok under American control, over US officials’ concern that its China-based parent company posed a national security risk.

In his post, Martin confirmed that the TikTok deal would include a new ownership group with majority American investors, “secure operation of the algorithm in the U.S. overseen by Oracle” and “complete control of American user data, which will remain in the U.S.” Chinese investors are expected to retain a no more than 20% stake in the company following the deal.

–This is a developing story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
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