Drew Angerer/Getty Images
US officials are reportedly raising last-minute national security concerns over whether Oracle's US partnership with TikTok would do enough to adequately keep American users' data safe from China.
Bloomberg reports that this debate has delayed the US government from signing off on the proposed Oracle bid, in which the cloud company would become TikTok's "trusted technology provider" in the US. Despite the bid's design to assuage national security concerns, officials are reportedly "wary" about whether the company's proposed US restructuring would adequately stave off China's influence.
The TikTok-Oracle partnership, which took shape just this week, is a far cry from Trump's early demands that TikTok's parent company sell off its US operations entirely. As part of the proposed deal, ByteDance would break off TikTok's global business as its own US-based entity, in which Oracle would become minority shareholder. It also appears that Oracle would take over management and processing of TikTok data belonging to users either in the US or globally.
TikTok and Oracle did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US — which reviews transactions between foreign and American companies and declared last month that ByteDance had to divest its US operations — was set to review the proposed deal on Tuesday. Bloomberg reports that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has reviewed the proposed deal.
CFIUS is expected to meet again Wednesday to discuss the Oracle-TikTok bid, according to Bloomberg.
If CFIUS approves the deal, Trump will have to sign off on the details. The Chinese government will also have to agree to the terms before the deal is official.
Although it initially appeared as if the Oracle deal would not face any substantial challenges, some US lawmakers penned a letter Tuesday urging CFIUS and Trump to reject the "completely unacceptable" deal.
If the deal is rejected, it could send negotiations back to square one. The US government has set a deadline of September 20 for ByteDance to finalize a deal, with the threat of a ban still looming over the situation.
NOW WATCH: Here's the shortest route for a road trip across the US to see 50 national landmarks
See Also:
- Here's what we know about Oracle's bid to become TikTok's 'trusted technology provider' and potentially save it from Trump's threats of a US ban
- Oracle wins bid to become TikTok's 'trusted technology provider' in US
- TikTok owner ByteDance rejected Microsoft's bid for the app's US operations and is said to have chosen Oracle as its US 'technology partner'
SEE ALSO: Twitter took 30 minutes to remove Kanye West's tweet doxxing a top magazine editor
