TechnologyJanuary 23, 2026

TikTok’s New U.S. Venture: What Happened and Why It Matters

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② Start Lesson

Key Vocabulary

investor/ɪnˈvɛstər/

a person or company that gives money to a business to make a profit

"The investor helped the company grow."

data/ˈdeɪ.tə/

facts or information stored on computers

"My phone keeps a lot of data."

board/bɔrd/

a group of people who make big decisions for a company

"The board meets once a month."

Listening

TikTok’s New U.S. Venture: What Happened and Why It Matters

TikTok will become a new American company for its U.S. app. ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, signed agreements with three investors: Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. The new joint venture will run TikTok for users in the United States and will have a majority‑American board.

The deal keeps TikTok operating in the U.S. and aims to protect user data. Oracle will store U.S. data in its cloud and the recommendation algorithm will be retrained with U.S. data. The plan is set to close on January 22, 2026, and ByteDance will keep a 19.9% stake. About 170 million people in the United States use TikTok.

105 words

Quiz

1. Who signed agreements with Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX?

2. When is the plan set to close?

3. Who will store U.S. data?

Reading Practice

Read the article from the Listening section aloud. Your AI teacher will give you pronunciation feedback.

Discussion

Do you use TikTok? How often do you open the app?

Have you ever changed privacy settings in an app? What did you do?

What do you think about storing personal data in a company cloud in your country?