TikTok races to launch new U.S. app before September sale deadline

Citing unnamed sources, The Information reported Monday that the Chinese-owned short video platform has developed plans to roll out the new app to U.S. app stores on September 5, ahead of a September 17 deadline for its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to divest its American operations. Eventually, users will need to download the new app to continue accessing the platform, the report says, though the existing version is expected to remain operational until March of next year. That timeline, however, is subject to change.

The move comes amid renewed talks between the United States and China over TikTok’s future. President Donald Trump told Fox News on Friday that he would begin discussions with China this week regarding a possible TikTok deal, noting the U.S. “pretty much” has an agreement in place for a sale to a group of investors. He also said Chinese President Xi Jinping would likely approve the deal, though any final agreement would require Beijing’s sign-off.

A potential sale of TikTok’s U.S. business has been in flux for months. Earlier this year, a deal to spin off the app’s stateside operations into a new, majority U.S.-owned company was put on hold after China pushed back in response to Trump’s imposition of steep tariffs on Chinese imports.

The legal battle over TikTok’s U.S. status dates back to legislation signed by Joe Biden during his presidential term requiring ByteDance to divest or face a nationwide ban due to national security concerns over user data access by the Chinese government. Both TikTok and ByteDance deny such allegations.

Trump has already issued three extensions to the deadline since taking office in January, with the current one expiring in September. In a statement following the latest extension, TikTok thanked the president for ensuring that its platform remains available to over 170 million American users and 7.5 million U.S. businesses that rely on it.