U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, is demanding answers from the Trump administration over the status of the TikTok deal, following the administration repeatedly declaring that it has reached an agreement between ByteDance and a consortium of investors, but providing no details. Finally someone is stepping up to the plate and demanding answers!
Markey sent a letter to the Trump administration stating:
“Although your Administration has repeatedly declared that it reached a TikTok deal with China and financial investors, you have released few details on any agreement. In fact, it’s unclear whether China has even agreed to any TikTok deal. In late October, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared that China had just approved the TikTok deal — even though you said in September that Chinese President Xi Jinping had approved the agreement. Throughout this process, Beijing has never confirmed that it has agreed to a TikTok deal; in fact, after Xi’s meeting with you a few weeks ago, the Chinese government would say only that ‘the Chinese side will work with the U.S. side to properly address issues related to TikTok.’ Given the number of times your Administration has falsely announced a TikTok deal, Americans would be forgiven for thinking that they stumbled into the movie Groundhog Day.”
He went on to pose a series of questions about the deal:
- If TikTok U.S. is licensing the algorithm from ByteDance and retraining it, is this a one-time transfer of the source code or does TikTok U.S. have to renew it at regular intervals?
- Will any changes to the algorithm by ByteDance affect the algorithm that is licensed to TikTok U.S.?
- Will ByteDance be providing any ongoing technical support for the licensed algorithm?
- What does retraining the algorithm on U.S. user data entail?
- If ByteDance and TikTok U.S. no longer have an operational relationship — as is required under the TikTok ban — why would Oracle need to closely monitor the algorithm and U.S. user data?
- Moreover, has China even agreed to this deal?
Markey is demanding a briefing on the deal within the next two weeks that includes detailed information about the status of negotiations with China over the TikTok ban and the licensing arrangement between ByteDance and TikTok US.
Whether the Trump administration will respond or comply with the demands is a different story. If they choose to refuse or ignore the demand, Markey can escalate the issue through Senate committee oversight, hearings, or a committee-approved subpoena — which could take weeks or months if it were to even receive the support needed to move forward.
