Tiktok is preparing to launch an independent app for US users who are expected to work on a separate algorithm and data system from its global app, which lays the basis for a potential sale orchestrated by US President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the case.
Over the past several months, Tiktok employees have worked under tight deadlines to build a new, US-specific version of Tiktok by transferring and duplicate the application’s code base-inclusive AI models, algorithms, features and user data-from the global platform, current employees of the company told the company to the company to the company Reutersthat requested anonymity while discussing private questions.
The move could open the door to resolve years of debate about whether the company would share what is considered the crown jewel of the bytedans-owned short video sharing platform recommendation algorithm that runs the Chinese-owned platform-which has been at the center of US-China Technology Standoff.
Bytedance and Tiktok refused to comment.
The initiative, known internally as “M2”, has a deadline in September and could represent the biggest technical break between Tikkok’s US operations and its international business. The change is expected to influence how 170 million US users gain access to global content and how non-American creators make money on the platform.
The new app app is only designed to work independently, similar to the Douyin version of Tiktok, which is only available in the Chinese mainland. Users outside the US do not find the US version in their App Store, sources say.
Technical details about the upcoming US app are reported here for the first time. The information first reported the planned launch of the US Tiktok app.
While current content is expected to migrate into the new app, it remains unclear to what extent new content from Global Tiktok apps will be integrated into the US version. The new app is only expected to use data from US users to train its recommendation algorithms, which further distances it from Tiktok’s global systems, sources added. As a result, most users will recommend content generated in the US.
Separation anxiety
Push to Separate Tikkok’s US app from its global platform has been running for months when city dance leaders drafted various plans to prevent a ban on the app in the US, a step required by recently passed data security problems.
The future of the app used by almost half of all Americans has been up in the air since a law of 2024, adopted with overwhelming Bipartisan support required bye dancing to dispose of Tiktok by January 19th.
Washington officials have said Tiktok’s ownership of urban dancing is making it see the Chinese government, and Beijing could use the app to perform influence operations against the United States and collect data on Americans.
After the first deadline and a brief moment of “going dark” in January, Tiktok began to move non-American user data out of US data centers driven by Oracle, ensuring that only US user data remained on servers in the United States and paved the way to separate us and international companies, according to sources.
The company has also worked to separate the code base to its core algorithm since last year, a step that was first reported by Reuters and denied by the company at that time.
Once the split is completed, core technology and the ongoing development are controlled separately from the global Tiktok team, although some bytedance employees could continue to support Tiktok us in an outsourced capacity, one of the sources added.
This has raised internal concerns about whether the algorithm of the United States will remain as effective in the long term as it is today when Tiktok can utilize Bytedans global technical talent and product expertise.
The project is coming as Bytedance faces continued political pressure in Washington to dispose of its US business. An agreement had been in the works in the spring to spin Tikkok’s US operations into a new US-based company, but it was put on wait after China indicated it would not approve it after Trump’s announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.
If a sale has been completed, the new app is expected to be owned by a joint venture formed by an American investor consortium and byte dance that will maintain a minority share.
The consortium, which has emerged as Frontrunner, includes Bytedance’s current shareholders Susquehanna International Group (Sig), General Atlantic, KKR, as well as new investors such as Blackstone and Andreessen Horowitz, Reuters previously reported. Oracle is also likely to take a share.
It is still unclear whether Beijing has approved the plan to copy the algorithm or sell Tiktok’s US operations.
During previous negotiations, Chinese authorities expressed strong reluctance to allow the export of Tiktok’s recommendation algorithm, which is largely seen as Bytedan’s valuable asset and an important driving force for its global popularity.
By 2020, when the Trump administration first pressed for a sale of Tikkok’s US business, China updated its export control rules to cover technologies as recommendation algorithms, which effectively gave the government a saying over any transfer.
At that time, Tiktok’s management team rejected the plan to pull off its US operations as harmful to both users and the global network, according to people with knowledge of the decision.
Now the negotiations on Tikkok’s fate are also part of President Trump’s wider trade negotiations with China on customs, sources say.
Trump said last week he would resume conversations with China about a Tiktok deal. While he said he was “not confident” on Peking’s approval, Trump added, “I think the deal is good for China and that’s good for us.”
