Washington (AFP)

American TikTok users are holding their breath as the days of the application of light videos are numbered in the United States, but Donald Trump spoke on Tuesday of a "very close" agreement with the Californian group Oracle, which could allow him to remain in the country.

"We will make a decision very soon," said the American president from the White House, who also expressed his respect for the boss of Oracle, Larry Ellison, one of his relatives.

This would make the software group Oracle the "trusted technology partner" of TikTok, owned by the Chinese group ByteDance.

The stakes are high, because the agreement should allow Americans to continue using this application, which offers to make short videos, often musical or humorous.

It is very popular with 15-25 year olds, and claims a billion users worldwide.

But Donald Trump has accused him since the beginning of the summer of spying on behalf of the Chinese government, in a context of strong tensions between the two economic powers.

However, he never provided any proof.

The American president, who wants the American operations of TikTok to pass under the American flag, signed a decree in early August to require the sale by September 20, under penalty of a ban in the United States.

The platform, which rejects accusations that she is an agent of Beijing, has filed a complaint against the US government.

- Rejection of Microsoft's offer -

The American computer giant Microsoft, allied with another American giant, but of the distribution, the Walmart group, had made a takeover offer for TikTok's activities in the United States.

But the operation was rejected Sunday by ByteDance, leaving the field open to Oracle, while the format of a partnership seems to be preferred to that of an outright sale.

TikTok and Oracle have both confirmed the existence of such a project, without detailing its content.

Contacted by AFP, Oracle and TikTok had not responded, as did the US Department of the Treasury, also requested.

According to several American media, a sale of TikTok is not on the agenda.

The Financial Times, which quotes sources familiar with the matter, affirms for its part that the United States will host the new headquarters of TikTok's global operations and that Oracle will become a minority shareholder of the platform.

ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, would remain the majority shareholder of the social network.

The partnership, once signed, must in any case be validated by the CFIUS committee, which reviews foreign investments in the United States.

- Diplomatic issue -

The fate of TikTok is a diplomatic issue between China and the United States, between which several fronts have opened in recent months.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce had ignited a counterfire by amending - for the first time since 2008 - its list of technologies subject to export restrictions or bans.

This now includes, among other things, artificial intelligence technologies (data processing, content recommendation, etc.) that have made the success of the TikTok application, where videos are displayed on users' screens. mainly according to their tastes, and much less to their contacts.

ByteDance had immediately made it known that it "would strictly respect" the new Beijing rules, that is to say obtaining an export license from the authorities.

© 2020 AFP