Among the most closely monitored bids between multinationals, the recent deal between Oracle and TikTok has grabbed the attention of investors, employees, communities, and governments all across the world. On Monday, the tech giant, Oracle, confirmed its intent to make a play for TikTok’s US arm immediately after the brand’s parent company, ByteDance, chose the former over Microsoft to be its partner in the US.
In a statement released by Oracle, the spokesperson commented, “As per the proposal submitted over the weekend by ByteDance to the Treasury Department, it has been stated that Oracle will serve as the technology provider.” In the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s revelation of the bid, it was quoted, “We acknowledge having received a proposal over the weekend that confirms Oracle as the trusted technology partner, making representations for national security concerns. Other than this, there is also a mutually-communicated commitment that promises to generate over 20,000 employment opportunities and turn TikTok Global as a US-based company.”
While Mnuchin denied offering more details about the deal and its ongoing processes, including the standing of other bidders, like Walmart and Microsoft, he did state assuring the safety of the technology on Americans’ phones is critical for any agreement. He even added to this and shared that the technical teams from Oracle and the US government will unite and lay its focus on the deal to ensure it meets the stringent technical requirements.
The White House advisor, Jared Kushner, in an interview with CNBC earlier Tuesday, expressed optimism and staunch support for the Oracle TikTok deal. He said, “The nation’s interest in this area is solely national security – for us, making sure people’s data is safe and secured is of utmost importance. We have immense confidence in Oracle.” In the days to come, it’ll be interesting to see the outcome of the Oracle-TikTok bid that pitted the former against the global giant, Microsoft.