TikTok is reportedly creating a new version of its American app before a planned sale.
The popular video platform has come up with plans to introduce the new TikTok app, code-named “M2,” on Sept. 5, The Information reported Sunday (July 6), citing two sources with knowledge of the matter.
“M” is the app’s internal name, the report added. Under the relaunch plan, TikTok users would eventually need to download the new app from app stores to keep using the service, although the existing TikTok would work until March 2026.
This migration of TikTok’s 170 million users in the U.S. is happening as the White House is apparently close to reaching a deal to sell the company’s American operations, allowing it to continue doing business stateside.
Under that agreement, a group of investors — “very wealthy people,” as President Donald Trump said recently — would purchase TikTok’s U.S. business, with the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, keeping a minority stake. The deal still needs the approval of China’s government.
The Information report noted that it is “highly unusual” for an app with a wide following to ask its users to download a new, separate version, something that risks driving away users.
But one source said a new TikTok app could alleviate some of the data security concerns about the platform. The report added that it is not clear if creating a new version of TikTok for U.S. users was something the Trump administration or the investors had specifically called for.
PYMNTS has contacted ByteDance for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.
The U.S. government passed a law in 2024 requiring ByteDance to shed its ownership in TikTok U.S. by January of this year or see the platform banned.
That law was prompted by national security concerns, chiefly that the Chinese government could use TikTok to find out information about Americans.
But Trump — who has credited the platform and its young users with his election victory last year — has repeatedly pushed back that deadline. The current cutoff date is Sept. 17.
Meanwhile, TikTok last week made a third round of layoffs in as many months at its U.S. eCommerce division, TikTok Shop.
“As the TikTok Shop business evolves, we regularly review our operations to ensure long-term success,” a TikTok spokesperson told Bloomberg News. “We’ve made the difficult decision to adjust parts of our team to better align with strategic priorities.”
