China's ByteDance signs deal to form joint venture to operate TikTok US app

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, said Thursday it signed binding agreements with three major investors to form a joint venture to operate TikTok's U.S. app led by American and global investors in a bid to avoid a U.S. government ban, a significant step toward ending years of uncertainty. The deal is a milestone for the short ​video app used regularly by more than 170 million Americans after years of battles that began in August 2020, when President Do ...