TECH

TikTok Outage Puts New U.S. Operations to the Test

Published: Jan. 28, 2026 5:16 p.m. GMT+8

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The technical issues began over the weekend when a power outage triggered “a cascading systems failure,” TikTok USDS Joint Venture said. Photo: IC Photo

TikTok is grappling with widespread service disruptions in the U.S. after a severe winter storm knocked out power at an Oracle Corp. data center, testing the resilience of its operations under a new American-owned structure.

The technical issues began over the weekend when a power outage triggered “a cascading systems failure,” TikTok USDS Joint Venture LCC said in a statement, adding that users may experience issues like bugs, slower load times, or timed-out requests, including when posting new content.

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TikTok faced widespread U.S. service disruptions after a winter storm caused a power outage at an Oracle data center, initiating cascading system failures.
The joint venture managing TikTok's U.S. operations reported recovery progress, but users still experience technical issues; the outage coincided with a national power crisis impacting over 1 million homes.
Global data center power demand is predicted to grow 16% in 2025 and double by 2030, with U.S. data centers' electricity use expected to rise from 4% to 7.8% by 2030.

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Who’s Who

Oracle Corp.: Oracle Corp. (甲骨文公司) is a managing investor in the newly formed joint venture with TikTok and ByteDance Ltd. One of its data centers experienced a temporary weather-related power outage that impacted TikTok's services. Oracle also manages the cloud environment where U.S. user data for TikTok is stored.

ByteDance Ltd.: ByteDance Ltd. is the parent company of TikTok. They recently finalized a deal to establish a majority U.S.-owned joint venture for TikTok. This move aims to address national security concerns and prevent a ban on the app. The joint venture is responsible for data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance for TikTok's U.S. operations.

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LCC: TikTok USDS Joint Venture LCC is a majority U.S.-owned entity responsible for TikTok's U.S. operations, including data protection and content moderation. Formed to address national security concerns, it recently experienced service disruptions due to a power outage at an Oracle data center caused by a winter storm. Oracle is a managing investor in this venture.

Gartner Inc.: Gartner Inc. is a consultancy company that has estimated a significant increase in power demand for data centers globally. They projected a 16% growth in 2025 and a doubling by 2030, driven mainly by the expansion of AI infrastructure, particularly in the U.S. and China.

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What Happened When

2026-01-22 to 2026-01-23：: Technical issues began for TikTok in the U.S. after a power outage triggered a cascading systems failure at an Oracle data center.

2026-01-25：: TikTok and its parent ByteDance Ltd. finalized a deal to establish a majority U.S.-owned joint venture.

2026-01-25 through 2026-01-28：: The U.S. Department of Energy issued an order authorizing Texas's main electric grid operator to deploy backup generation resources at data centers and other critical facilities.

2026-01-28：: TikTok's joint venture reported significant progress in recovering U.S. infrastructure with its data center partner Oracle; Oracle acknowledged the data center outage.

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