App affairs

Clock runs out on sale of TikTok to Austin-based tech company

TikTok, which has a major presence in Austin, was in talks with Austin-based Oracle on a sale.

Courtesy photo

This news may have some people in Austin “shook,” as they say on TikTok: Software giant Oracle and retail powerhouse Walmart have indefinitely dropped plans to buy the U.S. arm of the video-sharing app.

Not only is this a major (though not entirely unexpected) development for Austin-based Oracle, but it also may affect TikTok’s Austin workforce.

Last August, TikTok laid out plans to roughly double its Austin headcount from close to 100 to around 200, and to eventually add hundreds of employees here. Around the same time, speculation surfaced that if TikTok’s U.S. operations were sold to Oracle and Walmart or other buyers, Austin might become the headquarters of the newly configured U.S. business.

As of February 11, TikTok listed 65 job openings in Austin on its website.

A spokeswoman for TikTok couldn’t be reached for comment. Oracle and Walmart haven’t publicly commented about the collapse of the TikTok deal.

Citing national security concerns, the Trump administration had tried to force the sale of TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, to an American company, according to NPR. If no deal was reached, Trump had threatened to effectively blacklist TikTok in the U.S. After the Trump administration made that move, TikTok said the action jeopardized new jobs in Austin and elsewhere in the U.S.

Oracle and Walmart had been cobbling together a deal to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations, but a final deal never materialized, NPR says. Now, the potential acquisition has been shelved. Sources tell NPR that TikTok was hesitant to give up even partial control of its platform.

The shelving of the TikTok deal comes as the Biden administration undertakes a review of security risks posed by collection of Americans’ data by Chinese tech companies, including ByteDance, according to The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ broke the news February 10 about the indefinite halt to the TikTok acquisition.

According to the WSJ, the switchover from the Trump administration to the Biden administration means the app “no longer faces the threat of imminent shutdown” in the U.S. Therefore, ByteDance has much less of an incentive to sell the U.S. component of TikTok, at least for the time being.

technology

Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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