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Exclusive | TikTok’s algorithm not for sale, ByteDance tells US: source
- Chinese tech company decides not to sell or transfer code behind the popular video-sharing app, source says
- Decision comes in final countdown to Trump’s deadline for sale of American operations
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ByteDance, the Beijing-based parent company of TikTok, will not sell or transfer the algorithm behind the popular video-sharing app in any sale or divestment deal, according to a source briefed on the Chinese company’s boardroom discussions.
With a looming US deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations, the source said: “The car can be sold, but not the engine.”
“The company [ByteDance] will not hand out source code to any US buyer, but the technology team of TikTok in the US can develop a new algorithm,” the source told the South China Morning Post. The source, who did not want to be identified, said ByteDance had notified US authorities and potential bidders of the decision.
If US President Donald Trump rejected the condition, there would be no possibility of selling TikTok and the app could turn dark for its American users after the Tuesday deadline for divestment, the source said.
The Trump administration has given ByteDance until September 15 to sell TikTok’s US operations or be shut down in the United States.
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‘There will be no extension of the TikTok deadline,’ says US President Trump
‘There will be no extension of the TikTok deadline,’ says US President Trump
The source said the “no algorithm” condition was now the bottom line for any discussions of sales or restructure of TikTok, following the introduction of new Chinese government export controls.
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