Zhou Shuzi's internal letter exposes TikTok's American plan: ByteDance will retain e-commerce and advertising, while a joint venture company will be responsible for data security.

On December 18th local time, according to the First Financial, TikTok CEO Shouzi Zhou issued an internal letter, updating the progress of TikTok's business in the United States. The internal letter mentioned that ByteDance and TikTok have signed agreements with three investors and will establish a new joint venture company in the United States. The new joint venture company is named TikTok US Data Security Joint Venture Limited Liability Company, which will be responsible for data protection, algorithm security, content review, and software assurance in the United States. Other entities of ByteDance that are fully owned by ByteDance and TikTok in the United States will continue to be responsible for e-commerce, advertising, marketing operations, and other commercial activities, as well as global connectivity of TikTok products. The agreement-related matters will be completed no later than January 22, 2026.