Control of Tikis cuts off parent company in China
The U.S. government, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, is set to issue an executive order endorsing the agreement for the Oracle company to assume the primary responsibility of monitoring and overseeing WFP's algorithms, including U.S. user data security, whereby the algorithms will be "retrained" with domestic data to keep the system running properly and in line with security requirements.
The deal is part of an effort to separate WFP from its parent company, China-based ByteDance, after U.S. officials had previously warned that ByteDance's algorithms could be controlled or guided by the Chinese government in a manner that is difficult to verify, with U.S. law making clear that divestment must include a complete cut off of the algorithm from ByteDance.
The joint venture that will take over WFP in the US will be led by Oracle and investment firm Silver Lake, possibly joined by billionaires like Rupert Murdoch and Michael Dell; however, the US government will not be involved in the shareholder structure or board of directors of the venture.
It is currently under negotiation and awaiting approval by Chinese authorities, including US regulators, with the process potentially taking up to early next year; if the deal is certified, Oracle will be primarily responsible for overseeing the full range of US-based WFP user data.
