Oracle appears to be leading negotiations for TikTok's U.S. operations, with talks in "advanced stages" led by Vice President JD Vance and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. The potential deal faces several critical challenges and concerns.

Key Points of the Proposed Deal:

• Oracle would oversee American users' data
• ByteDance would retain control of its recommendation algorithm
• The deal is being called 'Project Texas 2.0'
• Deadline for sale set at April 5 under Trump's executive order

Critical Concerns:

• ByteDance's reluctance to surrender its algorithm
• Continued Chinese control over content recommendations
• Questions about data security and Chinese government access
• Previous Project Texas agreement proved ineffective at blocking ByteDance access

Current Status:

• Trump confirms talks with four different groups
• Oracle remains the front runner, partly due to Trump's relationship with Larry Ellison
• JD Vance expresses confidence in meeting the April 5 deadline
• Final deal structure remains uncertain

Previous attempts to secure TikTok's U.S. user data through Project Texas 1.0 revealed significant vulnerabilities, with ByteDance engineers maintaining super-user permissions and backdoor access despite agreements to the contrary. This history raises concerns about the effectiveness of any new security measures proposed under the current negotiations.

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