TikTok Cedes 80.1 % U.S. Stake in Last-Hour USDS Joint Venture Deal

Great-power pressure on foreign tech firms has precedent: in 1918 the U.S. seized German-owned telegraph cables, and in 2012 CFIUS forced China’s Ralls Corp. to divest Oregon wind farms—both framed as security necessities amid geopolitical rivalry. The TikTok carve-out is the first time Washington compelled a global algorithmic platform to localize code, data and governance, signaling a deepening phase of digital mercantilism and data-sovereignty politics already visible in India’s 2020 app bans and the EU’s 2023 DSA. On a 100-year arc, the episode hints at a splintering internet where nation-states treat code like critical infrastructure: interoperable yet segmented behind political firewalls. Whether this deal becomes a blueprint or a cautionary tale will shape how future transnational networks—AI models, quantum clouds—navigate between economic integration and national security anxieties.