ByteDance has formed a joint venture to operate TikTok's US app, with American and global investors holding an 80.1% stake and ByteDance retaining 19.9%, aiming to address US national security concerns and avoid a ban, while questions about ByteDance's ongoing role remain.
TikTok's CEO, Shou Zi Chew, will testify before the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee that the app has never shared, and would never share, US user data with the Chinese government. Chew will also state that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is not owned or controlled by any government or state entity. TikTok has faced growing calls for a US ban due to concerns over national security, but Chew argues that the company has spent over $1.5 billion on data security efforts and has formed a subsidiary, TikTok US Data Security, to protect US user data.