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ByteDance has said publicly that they won't be selling their algorithm (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-13/bytedance-tells-u-s-it-won-t-sell-tik

ByteDance has said publicly that they won't be selling their algorithm (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-13/bytedance-tells-u-s-it-won-t-sell-tiktok-s-algorithm-scmp https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-13/bytedance...) -- so there's no IP angle here. What is Oracle really getting out of the deal?

TaylorAlexander 6y ago
They can pass the user data to the US government.
- mike_h 6y ago
  It’s not just that. Now the Trump administration has control of the world’s best propaganda tool. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/technology/oracle-tiktok-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/technology/oracle-tiktok-...
  - nogabebop23 6y ago
    It's pretty easy for trump to have someone else ghost write his tweets; that' won't work for his tiktok videos...
    - outside1234 6y ago
      Its not that angle - imagine being able to turn down anything that is not flattering to him and turn up anything that is unflattering to Joe Biden. This is the real risk.
      - logicchains 6y ago
        Isn't that just the reverse of what Facebook and Google do currently?
    - hindsightbias 6y ago
      80 million US users will be seeing one side of the story in November.
      - ghthor 6y ago
        There's no chmace any of the technical details would be ready to manipulate propganga before November 3rd. Amusing, no chance
- turdnagel 6y ago
  I think that's right. I made this comment on a related thread but didn't put 2+2 together. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24465275 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24465275
- eli 6y ago
  I don’t find it credible that governments are extremely interested in tik tok data.
  - canada_dry 6y ago
    Given the world-wide adoption of their app on smart phones, I'd say you're mistaken.
    - coronadisaster 6y ago
      Android and iOS are more widespread, therefore an easier/better target for your government.
  - TaylorAlexander 6y ago
    The app can access your microphone, camera, contacts, location services, and clipboard among other things. https://www.rd.com/article/the-dangers-of-tiktok-that-are-worth-your-attention/ https://www.rd.com/article/the-dangers-of-tiktok-that-are-wo...
  - PeterStuer 6y ago
    Having aback catalog of truly embarrassing and possibly liable vids on any future politician, CEO or any useful pawn is worth a lot.
  - chrischen 6y ago
    Well, the US government certainly thinks the Chinese government is interested.
    - eli 6y ago
      They certainly are saying that they think that.
  - cultus 6y ago
    That's an incredibly naive statement. Governments are highly interested in social media.
adventured 6y ago
They're doing the deal as part of a consortium, Oracle is getting TikTok's cloud hosting in the US market (at least). Assuming TikTok doesn't fade in the next few years, it'll substantially increase the size of Oracle's cloud business and they can use it as a marketing point. It suggests that Oracle's cloud business has such dire traction that they can't acquire prominent customers for it any other way than to directly buy part of them. It also speaks to that Ellison & Co. view the cloud shift as a terminal threat for Oracle, one that is getting worse by the day, and that if they don't succeed at building up their cloud business, they will erode and die (and they're right). Oracle stayed in the game in the last round through massive consolidation, buying up the competition one after another (eg Siebel, PeopleSoft, etc). They'll try the same thing this time around as their organic efforts have largely failed; we'll see how much success they have given they're far outgunned this time around (and running from much further behind).
- tootie 6y ago
  Has anyone actually ever used their cloud offering? I assume it's awful, but I've never even looked at it.
  - gen3 6y ago
    They have a free tier that I’ve heard people will run matrix instances on. It seemed somewhat generous.
  - ab_testing 6y ago
    They have the most generous free tier. 2 free VM's each with 50 GB of storage and 2 free autonomous Oracle databases with 20 GB of storage.
    - gpm 6y ago
      Theoretically they do. Practically I couldn't even get an account last time I tried (a few months ago). It would attempt to charge my credit card a 1 dollar "check the payment is working fee" and fail (even though the charge was going through successfully).
nl 6y ago
TikTok is a media platform. They are buying audience.
rasz 6y ago
Just like GM operating in China is not transferring any IP, this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Monza_(China) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Monza_(China) being manufactured under SAIC-GM, a forced joint venture between GM and Chinese state-owned SAIC Motor is fine and dandy.

TaylorAlexander 6y ago

They can pass the user data to the US government.

mike_h 6y ago
It’s not just that. Now the Trump administration has control of the world’s best propaganda tool. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/technology/oracle-tiktok-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/technology/oracle-tiktok-...
- nogabebop23 6y ago
  It's pretty easy for trump to have someone else ghost write his tweets; that' won't work for his tiktok videos...
  - outside1234 6y ago
    Its not that angle - imagine being able to turn down anything that is not flattering to him and turn up anything that is unflattering to Joe Biden. This is the real risk.
    - logicchains 6y ago
      Isn't that just the reverse of what Facebook and Google do currently?
  - hindsightbias 6y ago
    80 million US users will be seeing one side of the story in November.
    - ghthor 6y ago
      There's no chmace any of the technical details would be ready to manipulate propganga before November 3rd. Amusing, no chance
turdnagel 6y ago
I think that's right. I made this comment on a related thread but didn't put 2+2 together. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24465275 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24465275
eli 6y ago
I don’t find it credible that governments are extremely interested in tik tok data.
- canada_dry 6y ago
  Given the world-wide adoption of their app on smart phones, I'd say you're mistaken.
  - coronadisaster 6y ago
    Android and iOS are more widespread, therefore an easier/better target for your government.
- TaylorAlexander 6y ago
  The app can access your microphone, camera, contacts, location services, and clipboard among other things. https://www.rd.com/article/the-dangers-of-tiktok-that-are-worth-your-attention/ https://www.rd.com/article/the-dangers-of-tiktok-that-are-wo...
- PeterStuer 6y ago
  Having aback catalog of truly embarrassing and possibly liable vids on any future politician, CEO or any useful pawn is worth a lot.
- chrischen 6y ago
  Well, the US government certainly thinks the Chinese government is interested.
  - eli 6y ago
    They certainly are saying that they think that.
- cultus 6y ago
  That's an incredibly naive statement. Governments are highly interested in social media.

adventured 6y ago

They're doing the deal as part of a consortium, Oracle is getting TikTok's cloud hosting in the US market (at least). Assuming TikTok doesn't fade in the next few years, it'll substantially increase the size of Oracle's cloud business and they can use it as a marketing point. It suggests that Oracle's cloud business has such dire traction that they can't acquire prominent customers for it any other way than to directly buy part of them. It also speaks to that Ellison & Co. view the cloud shift as a terminal threat for Oracle, one that is getting worse by the day, and that if they don't succeed at building up their cloud business, they will erode and die (and they're right). Oracle stayed in the game in the last round through massive consolidation, buying up the competition one after another (eg Siebel, PeopleSoft, etc). They'll try the same thing this time around as their organic efforts have largely failed; we'll see how much success they have given they're far outgunned this time around (and running from much further behind).

tootie 6y ago
Has anyone actually ever used their cloud offering? I assume it's awful, but I've never even looked at it.
- gen3 6y ago
  They have a free tier that I’ve heard people will run matrix instances on. It seemed somewhat generous.
- ab_testing 6y ago
  They have the most generous free tier. 2 free VM's each with 50 GB of storage and 2 free autonomous Oracle databases with 20 GB of storage.
  - gpm 6y ago
    Theoretically they do. Practically I couldn't even get an account last time I tried (a few months ago). It would attempt to charge my credit card a 1 dollar "check the payment is working fee" and fail (even though the charge was going through successfully).

nl 6y ago

TikTok is a media platform. They are buying audience.

rasz 6y ago

Just like GM operating in China is not transferring any IP, this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Monza_(China) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Monza_(China) being manufactured under SAIC-GM, a forced joint venture between GM and Chinese state-owned SAIC Motor is fine and dandy.