Plus: Most people consider AI chatbots ‘good enough’ for news summaries; Substack launches TV app.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, has finally locked in a deal to transfer control of its U.S. business, including the app and its recommendation algorithm, to a new majority-American joint venture.
This move ends years of back-and-forth uncertainty that threatened a full ban of the platform in the United States.
The new business, called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, is now majority owned by U.S. investors Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX, the New York Times reports.
ByteDance will hold a minority stake. Oracle will host U.S. user data and oversee security, and the TikTok recommendation algorithm will be retrained on U.S. data under this American-controlled framework.
In a press release on its website, TikTok emphasized the deal as a way to safeguard users and protect national security.
They said: “We safeguard the U.S. content ecosystem, holding decision-making authority for trust and safety policies and moderation. USDS Joint Venture helps ensure Americans can continue to express their creativity, discover new hobbies and interests, and build thriving communities and businesses on a global scale.”
The Times article points out that users won’t know much about how a shift in algorithms or content looks until later on.
The new owners, who are closely aligned with President Donald Trump, will have influence over U.S. TikTok content more directly, the outlet said.
Anupam Chander, a law and technology professor at Georgetown University, told NYT, “By shifting the ownership of this speech platform to American companies who perhaps have a close relationship with the sitting president, it allows more theoretical room, potentially, for misinformation to be disseminated.”
Why it matters: TikTok remains huge, with 200 million users in the U.S. and deep cultural influence, but the way it’s governed just shifted dramatically.
What’s considered acceptable, sensitive or controversial may change depending on leadership priorities and public pressure.
This means that brands should build TikTok into issues and crisis planning. Have internal guidance on what topics you’ll engage with, which ones you’ll avoid and what happens if content gets flagged or taken down.
It’s also important to keep track of any content shifts you’re seeing. Are there sudden drops in certain themes? Changes in comment visibility? Has anything gone absent in your “For You” section? Keeping an eye on these things can help inform your TikTok strategy and understand what topics to avoid or what’s getting more reach.
While TikTok currently bans hate speech, harassment and misinformation, moderation rules can shift quickly, as Elon Musk showed when he loosened content restrictions on X, instantly changing the platform’s tone, trust and advertiser dynamics.
If questions about censorship, bias or misinformation grow, brands may be questioned about why they’re still on the platform. Have a clear answer about how your brand approaches safety and responsibility and where you draw the line.
More than ever, PR pros will need to think about audience confidence, trust and content clarity before there’s a noticeable shift in content or algorithms.
Editor’s Top Reads:
- A new study looked at how people in the U.S. and India use AI chatbots like ChatGPT to get news and information. Researchers found that people who already use these tools regularly, 7% in the U.S. and 20% in India, often see them as “unbiased” and “good enough,” even if the answers aren’t always fully accurate or up-to-date, “Broadly speaking, the researchers compared this chatbot usage to ‘service journalism’ — providing readers with practical, actionable information and advice to make decisions. In both countries, chatbots were less likely to keep folks plugged into the latest breaking news, and more likely to inform their actions,” the outlet said. That means communicators should think about how their messages might be interpreted and consider how to hone their GEO approach to optimize what AI tools value, like lists, bullet points and clear explanations. This also means audiences may not encounter your message as a headline or a quote in a story. They may see it as an answer to a question. For example, “Where can I find the best…?” That puts more pressure on clarity and usefulness. Vague statements and jargon don’t translate well when an AI is summarizing what actually matters. Comms teams may need to focus more on clear explanations, FAQs, and plain-language context because those are the inputs chatbots are most likely to surface.
- Substack just launched a beta TV app for Apple TV and Google TV. It includes a personalized “For You” video tab showing recommended content (much like YouTube) and will eventually add things like previews of paid content, audio posts, improved search and ways to upgrade subscriptions in the app, TechCrunch The move is part of Substack’s broader push into video and big-screen viewing and a bid to compete more directly with platforms like YouTube and Patreon. “Substack is the home for the best longform-work creators put real care into and subscribers choose to spend time with,” the company said in a blog post. “Now these thought-provoking videos and livestreams have a natural home on the TV, where subscribers can settle in for the extended viewing that great video deserves.” The way audiences consume content continues to shift. Substack is prioritizing more storytelling formats geared for screens. You might start thinking about video-first storytelling and how your key messages can show up through a visual experience .
- Microsoft 365, including Outlook email, went down for thousands of users in North America yesterday, leaving many unable to send or receive messages and access other work tools. On their service status page, they said, “We’re carefully rebalancing traffic across all affected infrastructure in the region, while monitoring the corresponding health telemetry, to ensure the environment enters into a balanced state as our remediation efforts continue.” Microsoft took a plainer-language approach on X: “We’ve identified a portion of service infrastructure in North America that is not processing traffic as expected. We’re working to restore the infrastructure to a healthy state to achieve recovery.” This was followed with a link to more information. Early acknowledgement is important in outage communication. Everyday users and IT pros don’t want silence when critical tools fail. Microsoft publicly confirmed the issue rather than waiting. They also provided updates for multiple audiences. One was geared for people in tech and the other helped everyday users understand the issue. During disruption, it’s important to adapt messaging for multiple audiences based on what’s most important to each group to clearly provide updates, actions and next steps.
Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at courtneyb@ragan.com.
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