TikTok: What is Oracle and why do you want the video sharing app?

Software giant Oracle is believed to be the pioneer in the bidding war for the short-form video app TikTok.

The partnership should address US security concerns, but not be a complete sale, sources told the agency.

Oracle sells database technology and cloud systems to companies. It was one of the first companies to help clients structure their records in this way.

Co-founder and current president Larry Ellison named the company after the code name given to a project for its first client, in 1975: the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The firm was founded two years later and went on to complete contracts for the CIA, Navy Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence, and the National Security Agency.

News site Gizmodo has detailed Oracle’s involvement with the US government intelligence community, saying it is a relationship that has been “frequently ignored by people who like to pretend that Oracle is just another humble company. Emerging Silicon Valley “.

But its cloud-based clients and services now extend much further, from serving automakers like Mazda and Yamaha to retailers like UK chains Co-op and Debenhams.

Oracle technologies can be used to keep track of everything, Ellison said.

“Information about your banks, your checking balance, your savings balance, is stored in an Oracle database,” he said in Jeffery Rosen’s 2004 book The Naked Crowd.

“Your airline reservation is stored in an Oracle database. The books you bought from Amazon are stored in an Oracle database. Your profile on Yahoo! is stored in an Oracle database … Privacy is now has been”.

The US administration claims that TikTok and other Chinese apps are threats to national security, so given its track record in intelligence, Oracle could be considered a reliable option.

“On the surface, Oracle and TikTok don’t appear to be bedfellows,” said Chris Stokel-Walker, author of an upcoming book on the platform.

“Oracle is a relatively boring business-to-business company, while TikTok is an informal youth-focused app.

“But there is an underlying geopolitics. Yes [US President Donald] Trump’s fears around TikTok are rooted in security, the company would be a safer bet. “

The president had previously said that he thought Oracle was in the best position to seal the TikTok deal.

“I think Oracle is a great company, and I think its owner is a tremendous guy,” Trump said last month. “He’s a tremendous person. I think Oracle would certainly be someone who could handle it.”

Oracle has been accused of hostility toward China, after laying off 900 employees of its team in the country last year, in the same week that additional tariffs were introduced on Chinese products in the United States.

Employees blamed tensions between the United States and China for the cuts.

It is understood that Oracle’s stake in TikTok will not be a direct sale, but rather a “technology partnership,” the Wall Street Journal and Reuters report.

That suggests that the US company’s control over the business would be limited.

Two weeks ago, China announced new government restrictions on technology exports. They mean that some technologies that involve artificial intelligence techniques need government approval before any sale to a foreign entity takes place.

Many see the way TikTok decides which videos to recommend to whom and when is its key asset, and Oracle may not be allowed to know exactly how it works or to use it for other purposes.

But another expert believes the association could work.

“The security element with Oracle could ease tensions, but it can also help TikTok to be a bit more mature in its perspective,” said Tamara Littleton, founder of consultancy The Social Element.

“TikTok is struggling to control its content right now, and its revered algorithm can work against it at times. Oracle’s expertise could help fix some of these problems.”

TikTok and Oracle declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.