Oracle In Talks With White House To Oversee US Operations Of TikTok As Part Of Project Texas 2.0: Report

Oracle Corp. ORCL  is reportedly in advanced talks with the White House to oversee the U.S. operations of TikTok, as concerns continue to mount over the app’s Chinese origins.

What Happened: Vice President JD Vance and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz are spearheading the discussions. The role of TikTok’s Chinese founders in its U.S. operations remains a significant point of concern, according to a Politico report. 

The proposed deal, dubbed “Project Texas 2.0”, is a sequel to an earlier agreement that saw TikTok and Oracle move American users’ data to Texas-based servers. Despite this move, fears linger that China could exploit the app for espionage.

Oracle plans to meet with lawmakers, including Republicans, this week to discuss the proposed deal and growing national security concerns. Tech news outlet, The Information, reported that Oracle is a strong candidate to manage TikTok, with ByteDance, the app’s Beijing-based parent company, showing a preference for it.

The Chinese government has the ultimate authority to decide whether ByteDance sells TikTok or grants a U.S. company a license to operate it, as it seeks to maintain TikTok’s exclusive control over its user data.

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Why It Matters: This development follows a recent announcement by Vice President JD Vance that a deal to maintain TikTok’s U.S. operations under American ownership is nearing completion.

This statement came ahead of the April 5 deadline set by a Biden-administration law, which mandates ByteDance to either sell TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban. The app experienced a temporary outage for approximately 12 hours in January after TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, missed the deadline to sell its stake, and the Supreme Court upheld Congress' ban.

Last Week, President Donald Trump confirmed that the administration had been in discussions with four different groups regarding the sale of TikTok. In January, Trump had informed reporters that he was open to Oracle founder and executive chairman Larry Ellison purchasing TikTok. Ellison is also a part of Trump’s $500 billion Stargate AI project.

Oracle Corporation stock surged nearly 17% over the past year to close at $149.27 on Friday, as per Benzinga Pro

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.