Photo Credit: Solen Feyissa
TikTok is said to be building a new version of its app specifically for US users ahead of its anticipated sale to a group of investors.
TikTok is working on a US version of its app ahead of its planned sale in the United States to a group of investors, according to a report from The Information. The news comes amid President Trump’s claims on Friday that he will begin talks with China again on Monday or Tuesday about a potential TikTok deal.
According to the report, TikTok has a plan in the works to launch the new app to app stores in the US on September 5. Last month Trump extended the deadline to September 17 for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest the platform’s US assets.
Eventually, users in the United States will have to download the new app to be able to continue using the service, the report says, citing sources that wish to remain anonymous. The existing app will still work for US-based users until March of next year, although that timeline may change.
Trump has extended the deadline three times to facilitate a deal, which was reportedly in the works earlier this year. That was put on the back-burner after China indicated it would not approve a deal following Trump’s announcement of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.
Last week, Trump told Fox News that a group of “very wealthy people” are looking to buy the short-form video platform. The president noted he would reveal the investors’ identities in the next couple of weeks. However, reports have surfaced that the group of potential investors is the same one that was interested in dealing before China left the table.
It’s been up in the air since late last year whether TikTok’s US-based operations would cease after an ultimatum was voted into law by Congress. That law was signed by former president Joe Biden and upheld by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
The original 90-day deadline to divest or face a ban was January 19—the day before Trump took office. However, as one of his first acts in office, Trump extended the deadline for the first time, and has now extended it three times in total.
