President Trump said on Friday that the U.S. “pretty much has a deal” for an American company to acquire the U.S. branch of TikTok and that he'll be restarting talks with China this week to approve it. Trump said via Air Force One:
“We’re going to start Monday or Tuesday talking to China. We think we probably have to get it approved by China. Not definitely, but probably. I think the deal is good for China, and it’s good for us. It’s money, it’s a lot of money.”
A deal had supposedly been in the works this spring to spin off TikTok's U.S. operations into a new U.S. based company, majority-owned and operated by U.S. investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.
Despite three extensions on the ban… a deal might actually be nearing.
The Information reports that TikTok is building a new version of its app for users in the U.S., internally known as “M2,” with plans to launch to app stores on September 5th. (The existing TikTok app is internally known as “M”.) Users would eventually have to download the new app to be able to continue using the service, but the existing app will work until March of next year.
While it's unusual for an app with a large following to ask users to download an entirely separate app to continue using its service, sources say the new M2 version could help address the data-security concerns surrounding TikTok that have led us to this point.
At this moment, it's unclear if ByteDance will share TikTok's algorithm with the U.S. buyers, license the algorithm, or deliver an amended version exclusive for the U.S. market.
The next deadline for the U.S. to enforce the ban law is Sept. 17, less than two weeks after the new TikTok app is set to launch. On that day, the existing TikTok app will be removed from U.S. app stores and users will be directed to download the new version.