TikTok is making headlines with rumors that it is working on a new and independent algorithm for use in the United States. However, the company firmly denies allegations related to splitting its source code.
As a reminder, the possibility of TikTok being banned in the U.S. was brought back into discussion in March when the U.S. Congress introduced a new bill. Following Joe Biden’s approval of this law last month, TikTok initiated legal action against the U.S. government.
According to TikTok’s claims submitted to the court, U.S. laws required the platform to transfer millions of lines of code to a new owner by separating from ByteDance, which was not practically feasible. The petition also mentioned that restrictions imposed by the Chinese government hindered the sale of TikTok’s algorithm.
Tiktok New Algorithm
However, according to Reuters, TikTok is working exclusively on a private algorithm for use in the U.S. The company has reportedly been striving to develop an independent version of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm separate from the Chinese version, Douyin, which is under ByteDance.
Unnamed sources suggest that this strategic move is part of demonstrating that TikTok’s U.S. operations are independent from Beijing-based ByteDance. Details about the project have been shared in meetings involving company executives and through TikTok’s internal messaging system, Lark. However, it is acknowledged that this process could potentially impact the company’s engineering and development capabilities negatively.
TikTok categorically denies these claims. Michael Hughes, the company’s spokesperson, asserts that the efforts are aimed at preserving the TikTok experience and refutes allegations that it would facilitate the company’s sale or that a sale is even a possibility. Regarding questions about whether the source code has been split, Hughes responds with a firm “100% false.”
Finally, there are reports that the U.S. government has given ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, a 9-month deadline to sell the app to an American company. If the sale does not occur, TikTok could face a ban in the U.S. This situation further underscores the importance of TikTok’s efforts to develop a cloned algorithm for its U.S. operations.