TikTok Strikes Deal for New U.S. Entity, Ending Legal Saga

TikTok announced Thursday that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, reached an agreement with a group of non-Chinese investors to create a new U.S. TikTok, concluding a six-year legal battle that saw the app banned by Congress and caught in the middle of political tensions between global superpowers, according to the New York Times. The newly established TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will be governed by a board of seven directors, according to BBC Technology.

Investors including Oracle, MGX (an Emirati investment firm), and Silver Lake, another investment firm, will own more than 80 percent of the new venture, according to the New York Times. The list also includes the personal investment entity for Michael Dell, the tech billionaire behind Dell Technologies, and other firms. ByteDance will retain a 19.9% stake in the business, according to BBC Technology.

The deal aims to secure the platform's future in the U.S., where it has 200 million users, according to BBC Technology. Users are expected to see some changes as a majority-American board now owns and operates a separate entity controlling TikTok in the U.S., according to BBC Technology. TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew is among the seven directors governing the new entity, according to BBC Technology.

Trump Threatens Canada with Tariffs Over China Trade Deal

In other news, President Donald Trump threatened Canada with a 100% tariff on Canadian goods if the country strikes a trade deal with China, according to the BBC, The Guardian, and NPR. Trump made the threat on Truth Social, stating, "If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100 Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.," according to the BBC. It is unclear what deal Trump was referring to in his social media post, according to the BBC. Last week, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a "strategic partnership" with China and agreed to reduce tariffs, according to the BBC. At the time, Trump called the move "a good thing," according to the BBC.

Trump also claimed the U.S. would process seized Venezuelan oil, saying "we take the oil," according to The Guardian.

AI Developments: From Data Centers to Learning Apps

The artificial intelligence sector continues to see significant developments. A proposed 14.5 billion artificial intelligence data center in Bessemer, Alabama, faces opposition from local residents, according to the New York Times. Bessemer Mayor Kenneth E. Gulley expressed confusion over the opposition, stating, "A data center is probably the most unintrusive thing... You know, it's like a big computer sitting in your backyard," according to the New York Times.

Former Google employees are seeking to captivate kids with an AI-powered learning app called Sparkli, according to TechCrunch. Sparkli was founded last year by Lax Poojary, Lucie Marchand, and Myn Kang, according to TechCrunch. Poojary stated, "Kids, by definition, are very curious, and my son would ask me questions about how cars work or how it rains. My approach was to use ChatGPT or Gemini to explain these concepts to a six-year-old, but that is still a wall of text. What kids want is an interactive experience," according to TechCrunch.

KPMG's Orlando Lakehouse, a 450 million learning and innovation center, is becoming a secret weapon for the AI revolution, according to Fortune. The investment transformed into what leadership now describes as a strategic accelerant for the firms most ambitious pivot ever: the AI revolution, according to Fortune.

Other Key Developments

The SEC dropped its lawsuit against Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, according to TechCrunch.
The Pentagon foresees a more limited role in deterring North Korea, with South Korea taking primary responsibility for the task, according to The Guardian.
Gmail is experiencing issues with spam and misclassification, according to TechCrunch.
U.S. rock climber Alex Honnold reached the top of the Taipei 101 skyscraper without ropes, according to NPR.
JioHotstar’s ‘Special Ops’ Season 2 topped the 2025 India streaming charts, according to Variety.
The world passed a positive milestone on nuclear weapons, with more than eight years since the last nuclear explosion, according to Vox.
Prenuptial agreements are becoming mainstream, with younger people driving the trend, according to Vox.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vision for a healthy America is triggering a shift in federal nutrition policy, according to Fortune.
Trump's housing market plan contains a fatal flaw and multiple obstacles, according to Morgan Stanley and Fortune.
The CEO of a $2 billion healthcare firm only felt rich after he paid off $100K in student loans, according to Fortune.
A Brooklyn-based startup is testing the use of its e-bike batteries to power food carts, according to TechCrunch. David Hammer, co-founder and CEO of PopWheels, stated, "This really started out as a lark last summer... I'm an ex-Googler from the early days, and this felt like a classic, old-school 20% project," according to TechCrunch.