There are growing concerns around the proposed Oracle-TikTok deal, according to reports.
Oracle firmed in as the favourite to partner with TikTok in the United States (and possibly Australia) earlier this week, when Microsoft confirmed its bid had been rejected.
On Tuesday, TikTok confirmed it had submitted a proposed deal to the US Treasury Department – the partnership with Oracle – which it hopes will alleviate security concerns around the app.
However, the deal appears to be anything but done.
White House officials are said to still be concerned about the risk the video-sharing app poses to national security, according to Bloomberg.
President Donald Trump addressed the matter on Wednesday, telling reporters: “I’m not prepared to sign off on anything”.
He also said he needed to be “100 per cent on national security” before he can approve the deal between Oracle and TikTok.
There are still questions around how such a deal would be structured.
There have been suggestions that Chinese tech firm ByteDance would keep a majority stake in TikTok’s US operations, with Oracle becoming the app’s ‘trusted technology’ provider.
“Conceptually I can tell you that I don’t like that,” Trump said about this structure.
Trump also said he was surprised the US Government is not able to receive payment from either TikTok or Oracle in exchange for the government approving the deal.
“Amazingly I find that you’re not allowed to do that,” he said. “What kind of a thing is this?”
