Oracle, the American commercial software giant, released its financial report for the fourth quarter of the 2023 fiscal year, showcasing robust growth. The company’s stock price soared to a record high at the close of trading and continued to rise by 3.5% in after-hours trading. In the midst of an ongoing tech recession in a lot of parts of the world, this is a major achievement.

Oracle’s Cloud Computing business had the biggest growth numbers

According to the financial report, Oracle’s total revenue for the quarter reached $13.8 billion, marking a 17% year-on-year increase. This surpassed analysts’ average forecast of $13.7 billion, demonstrating Oracle’s ability to surpass expectations. The net income, excluding special income, stood at $1.67 per share, outperforming analysts’ projection of $1.58 per share. Oracle’s cloud computing business specifically experienced impressive growth, with fourth-quarter revenue reaching $4.4 billion, a 54% increase compared to the previous year. The cloud infrastructure segment contributed $1.4 billion in revenue, growing by 17%, while cloud software sales rose by 45% to $3 billion.

Oracle CEO Safra Catz expressed confidence in the company’s future, stating that they anticipate that the company will surpass the current growth rate of the previous fiscal year in the upcoming year. Oracle has strategically expanded its cloud computing infrastructure to compete with industry leaders like Amazon and Microsoft. While the growth rates of these companies have slowed down, Oracle’s cloud computing business has thrived. The increasing demand for generative artificial intelligence in the market has significantly boosted Oracle’s cloud computing business. As evidence, generative AI startup Cohere recently secured $270 million in funding, with Oracle being one of the investors.

Following the release of the financial report, Barclays Bank analyst Raimo Lenschow predicted that Oracle’s stock price would continue to rise. The stock closed at a record high of $116.43 per share, representing a 42% increase since the beginning of the year.

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(Via)

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Last year, the Mobile World Congress was canceled due to concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic and it appears that the tech conference will face similar issues this time as well with brands pulling out of the event.

Ericsson, one of the leading telecom equipment makers, has confirmed pulling out of the MWC 2021 and that move seems to have encouraged others to follow the suit. Now, Nokia has also confirmed not attending this year’s Mobile World Congress, becoming the second major telecom vendor to do so.

In a statement related to this development, the company said that “after careful consideration, Nokia has decided not to have a physical presence at Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2021. The health of our employees, customers and partners is of paramount importance to us. Given the international nature of the event and with the global vaccine rollout still in its early phases, we have made the considered decision to instead participate in only the virtual event.”

Apart from Ericsson and Nokia, other companies like Sony Mobile and Oracle have confirmed they won’t be present at the Mobile World Congress physically. The reasoning remains the same — they don’t want to put their employees and visitors at risk.

Last year, after many companies pulled out of the Mobile World Congress, GSMA officially cancelled the event. This time, there has not been any such communication so far and it’s unlikely that the MWC will get cancelled.

Recently, GSMA organized the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai in late February, which was an in-person event with several virtual panels and addresses. As per the estimates, around 17,000 people attended the event, without any positive COVID-19 diagnoses.

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Last month, a new US Government was formed with Joe Biden as the President. Right from the day of assuming Office, Biden has been overturning Trump’s measures like bringing the US back into the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement. Among the others, he was also expected to look into the TikTok US Operations issue. Now, a report by WSJ says that the talks have been shelved indefinitely.

According to the report(Via Reuters), plans to redirect TikTok’s U.S Operations over to Walmart and Oracle have been pushed back. Apparently, the reason is because the issue concerning potential security threats will now be reviewed by the new President Biden.

Back in 2020, the US Govt under Trump said that TikTok poses a security threat as he feared data of American Citizens collected by ByteDance would be obtained by the Chinese Govt. The company, however, has been denying this and the involvement of the Chinese Govt in its operations, from the beginning.

This came months after the Indian Govt banned TikTok citing Data Threat and security concerns back in June 2020. Later, TikTok entered into a legal battle with the US and got a Stay on ban from Commerce Department following a court order.

The US Govt has been mulling either to sell its US Operations(incl. Assets) from ByteDance to an American company or get banned. Accordingly, companies like Walmart and Oracle have been in talks to secure the deal.

Despite getting banned in few regions, TikTok topped the Charts in the middle of 2020, and Overall 2nd recently in January 2021 courtesy of the Sensor Tower report.

In India though, the company has been completely banned country-wide and has reduced the employee count as a result. Let’s just hope that ByteDance finds a way to steer through hurdles in its top markets like the US and India soon.

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Earlier this week, Oracle made a notable statement to reporters regarding the ongoing deal with TikTok’s parent company. The company said that ByteDance will have no ownership over the new TikTok venture.

According to the company, “Upon creation of TikTok Global, Oracle/Walmart will make their investment and the TikTok Global shares will be distributed to their owners, Americans will be the majority and ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global.” This differs significantly from previous reports that had said that ByteDance will still maintain a majority stake in the popular social media platform, which was previously a share of 80 percent to ByteDance and just 20 percent to Oracle and Walmart.

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Notably, this news also arrives slightly after the US President, Donald Trump, stated that he might not sign off on the TikTok-Oracle deal, especially if an American company did not have a majority share in TikTok. In other words, the short video making app had to have an American firm behind it to continue its operations, which is indicative of the frictions between the US and China.

Unfortunately, ByteDance has yet to respond to this statement while Oracle has also declined to further elaborate on this when it was reached out by TheVerge. At the moment, many are still concerned regarding the national security concerns that surround TikTok and it also remains to be seen just how the Chinese government responds to the matter.

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Donald Trump recently said that he has approved the deal between TikTok, Oracle, and Walmart, clearing the path for ByteDance-backed TikTok to continue its business in the United States without the fear of getting banned.

Oracle will be owning about a 12.5 percent stake in the company while Walmart CEO Doug McMillon will join the company’s board. ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming and the Chinese company’s current directors — Sequoia China’s Neil Shen and General Atlantic’s William Ford — will reprise their roles.

In a statement released by the company, it confirmed that ByteDance will retain full control of its social media algorithms but will allow Oracle limited access to view source code for “safety” purposes.

The company has contested Trump’s assertions that the U.S. government will get $5 billion as part of the deal. ByteDance said that the figure was just an estimate of the amount of taxes TikTok Global would pay over several years if the business proved successful.

Earlier, in a joint statement released by Oracle and Walmart, it was said that TikTok will pay more than $5 billion in “new tax dollars to the U.S. Treasury” and develop an AI-driven online video curriculum.

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As a part of the agreement, a new entity named TikTok Global will be created in which Oracle and Walmart will hold a minority stake. ByteDance has confirmed that it will continue to remain in control of the business, contradicting Trump’s claim of American companies being in control of TikTok.

The Chinese giant is expected to hold about 80 percent stake in TikTok Global, which could be valued at around $60 billion. It is not yet clear if the deal needs approval from the Chinese government or not.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration had banned WeChat downloads and transactions on the platform, effective 20th September. However, a judge has blocked the ban on WeChat and allowed the app to continue operation.

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Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump told reporters that he wasn’t ready to approve a proposal from ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok. This is in regard to recent news of Oracle becoming a technology provider for ByteDance’s popular short video sharing app.

For those unaware, Oracle was apparently interested in the acquisition of TikTok in the US, with ByteDance even submitting a proposal with the Treasury Department and is waiting for a response. However, Trump stated that the deal must be “100 percent as far as national security is concerned,” and that he would see the deal first before deciding on signing off on it, as per a CNBC report.

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Since the looming threat of the complete ban in the US, ByteDance has been looking for various companies to strike a deal for the popular social media platform. Although, the recent statement from the US President makes the situation a bit more difficult for the TikTok owners since political differences between Washington and Beijing might affect the outcome of the deal being signed off.

Trump had also said that the government had looked into accepting payment as a part of the transaction but he further added that “Amazingly I find that you’re not allowed to do that. I said, ‘What kind of a thing is this?’ If they’re willing to make big payments to the government, they’re not allowed because there’s no way of doing that from a — there’s no legal path to do that.” The US President is also against ByteDance holding a majority stake in TikTok during the acquisition. Thus, it remains the be seen how the situation plays out, so stay tuned.

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For the acquisition of TikTok’s US business, Microsoft was the front-runner but then other major companies started talks for the acquisition but the closest competition was from the software giant Oracle.

Now, Microsoft officials and other people involved in the negotiations have revealed that TikTok has rejected the company’s acquisition offer and instead, Oracle has been chosen to be the technology partner.

In a statement, Microsoft said: “ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users while protecting national security interests.”

It is not yet clear what does it mean to become a “technology partner” for TikTok. It also remains to be seen if Oracle would take a majority stake in the ownership of the social media app, which seems unlikely.

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However, China’s state broadcaster CGTN has reported that ByteDance will not sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft or Oracle. It is being said that the company has decided not to sell or transfer the source code behind its popular video app.

The development comes just days before the deadline for the acquisition deal times out. US President Donald Trump gave around 45 days from 6th August for TikTok to sell its business to an American company or get banned in the region.

Recently, the Chinese government revised its export rules that could block the transfer or sale of ByteDance’s artificial intelligence technologies. Now, the state-owned media in China is refuting the rumors about Oracle securing the deal. To know for sure, we will have to wait for an official announcement from the company.

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After concerns over the data collection practices of TikTok and the U.S. government’s threat to ban the short video social media app in the country if it doesn’t sell the business to an American company, everything was seemingly falling in line for the U.S. But that is no longer the case.

As per the latest report, the Chinese government has imposed new restrictions on the export of artificial intelligence technologies which will now require ByteDance to seek the approval of the Chinese government for selling TikTok’s U.S. operations.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has added AI-backed technologies such as speech and text recognition, and those that analyze data for personalized content recommendations have been added to the list of export-control products. It adds that the government permits will be required for overseas transfers to “safeguard national economic security.”

It seems that the new rule is aimed at delaying the sale of TikTok to the U.S.-based company. In a statement, ByteDance has said that the company was aware of the new restrictions and would “strictly comply with” the Chinese regulations on technology exports.

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Recently, Walmart confirmed that it has partnered with Microsoft in an attempt to purchase TikTok in the United States. It was confirmed just hours after TikTok CEO Kevin Mayers announced his resignation.

It was being speculated that the resignation could be because of the acquisition deal getting finalized. In his resignation letter, he said that he expects “a resolution very soon,” hinting that the official acquisition-related announcement could be made within days.

To acquire TikTok’s U.S. business from ByteDance, Microsoft and Oracle are the leading contenders. However, it is reported that Centricus Asset Management Ltd. and Triller Inc. have also made a last-minute pitch to buy TikTok’s operations in several countries for about $20 billion.

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At a time when TikTok has been banned in one of the most important markets, India, and is facing the same issue in the United States, the short video social media platform has announced its first music partnership.

The ByteDance-owned company has announced a music distribution partnership with indie music distributor UnitedMasters. It will now allow artists on TikTok to tap into the platform and then distribute songs directly to other music streaming services.

This new deal seems to be a good easy-to-reach strategy for indie artists who can now circumvent traditional record labels to reach young music fans on the social video app. TikTok says that the platform has already helped several artists to further growth, including Lil Nas X, Ambjaay, StaySolidRocky, Powfu, BENEE, Y2K, bbno$ and others.

UnitedMasters, on the other hand, has grown its lineup to over 400,000 artists in the past 18 months, with a combined 5 billion streams and over a half-million distributed tracks. The company takes a 10 percent share of the revenue for music it distributes and allows artists to retain their rights.

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Another interesting development in the on-going TikTok-relate circus in the United States is the entry of a new player for the acquisition talks. While Microsoft is already in talks with ByteDance for the acquisition of TikTok’s business in the United States, Oracle has now also joined the list of companies interested to acquire stake.

As per the report, the software giant has already held preliminary talks with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance and is also working with venture capital firms including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital.

It is being said that Oracle is “seriously considering” to acquire TikTok’s business in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The development comes at a time when Donald Trump has signed an executive order ordering TikTok to sell its U.S. business within 90 days.

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