TikTok reportedly prepping new app in the US as potential sale looms
The popular video app, owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, is under pressure to sell its U.S. operations by Sept. 17 or face a nationwide ban, due to security concerns raised by U.S. government officials over the firm's ties to China.
TikTok is planning to make the new app available on Sept. 5, according to tech news site The Information. The existing app could stop working in March 2026 and when that happens, American users would need to download the new app in order to continue to use TikTok, the publication said.
TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.
Analysts expect that the new app will attempt to address the government's security concerns. Officials have raised the specter of TikTok sharing user data with the Chinese government, which the company denies.
Ray Wang, principal analyst and founder of Constellation Research, said he believes TikTok will remain popular in the U.S. even after a sale. TikTok is used by more than 170 million Americans as a way to entertain and educate themselves by watching videos on the app. Small businesses, influencers and major corporations also post content on TikTok to market products.
"There will be a transition period from the old app to the new app," Wang said. "The question is how will data be migrated, and I'm sure they will have a solution for that."
President Trump last month gave a 90-day extension until Sept. 17 to ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations. The original deadline was Jan. 19, after a law was signed by Trump's predecessor, President Biden, last year, but the deadline has since been extended by Trump several times. TikTok has said that the law "offers no support for the idea" that its Chinese ownership poses national security risks.
Potential buyers of ByteDance's TikTok U.S. operations include Oracle Corp. (co-founded by billionaire Larry Ellison), Amazon and an investment group led by Frank McCourt, a former Dodgers owner whose bid includes "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary, analysts said. San Francisco artificial intelligence company Perplexity said in March that it wants to "rebuild the TikTok algorithm."
Any deal would need the approval of the Chinese government. Analysts said it is unlikely a sale of TikTok's U.S. operations would include its algorithm - seen as one of the most valuable parts of TikTok - which surfaces videos of interest to its users.
Trump on Friday told reporters that he planned to discuss a TikTok deal with China this week, but declined to name the potential buyer, according to the New York Times.
"I think the deal is good for China, and it's good for us," Trump said. "It's money, it's a lot of money."
Trump's first administration pushed for a TikTok ban, but the president since had a change of heart. He has met with TikTok executives at Mar-a-Lago, mused about TikTok's popularity with young people and bragged online about his significant following on the platform.
During his campaign for a second term, Trump positioned himself as a TikTok advocate, saying "those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump."
Several TikTok creators told The Times that they have diversified where they post their content and believe their fans will follow them to other platforms if TikTok were to be banned.
Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
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