Billionaire Barry Diller Blasts TikTok-Oracle Deal, Kyle Bass Says Security Threat 'Grave'

The ongoing TikTok-Oracle Corporation ORCL back-and-forth has yet to transform into a deal, and the process has morphed into "a crock," billionaire media mogul Barry Diller said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

No Longer About National Security: The original thesis of Oracle's involvement with TikTok was to ensure the safety of the American public, Diller said.

But the narrative has shifted as part of a "ludicrous" process to involve ownership and control, the IAC/Interactivecorp IAC chairman told CNBC. 

"Its original aims are out the window and it has just become a whole political mishmash," he said. "I have no idea how it settles."

Bass Endorses TikTok Down Without Oracle Deal: Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is among the most "patriotic" American executives and could ease legitimate national security concerns that TikTok presents, Hayman Capital's Kyle Bass separately said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Not only does user data flow to China, but the platform's algorithm can play a role in "manipulating" users, he said. 

If China doesn't agree to a deal in which Oracle controls data collection and has access to the algorithm, the Trump administration's policy of shutting down TikTok is a reasonable one, Bass said. 

"I don't have investments in TikTok, or Huawei, or ZTE, or WeChat but I try to call it like I see it," he said. "And what I see here is a grave U.S. security national security concern."

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