TikTok is developing a new version of its recommendation algorithm for its 170 million US users, aiming to operate independently from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
The move is seen as a response to pressure from American lawmakers who are considering banning the app. The app is banned in India already.
Sources revealed to Reuters that ByteDance initiated the process of splitting the source code late last year, prior to a bill in Congress that proposed the forced sale of TikTok’s US operations.
The company had earlier stated it had no intentions to sell its US assets, claiming such a move would be impossible.
The bill gained momentum earlier this year and was signed into law in April. Anonymous sources indicate that once the code is split, it could potentially lead to the sale of TikTok’s US assets, although no such plans are currently in place.
TikTok also cited its federal lawsuit in a post, stating, "The ‘qualified divestiture’ demanded by the Act to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. And certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act."
In May, TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance were sued in US federal court to block the law mandating a sale or ban of the app by January 19.
On May 27, a US appeals court set a fast-track schedule to review the legal challenges to the new law.
In recent months, hundreds of ByteDance and TikTok engineers in the US and China have been tasked with separating millions of lines of code.
Their goal is to create a separate code base for TikTok that operates independently from ByteDance’s Chinese version, Douyin, and removes any links to Chinese user data, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the project.
The previously undisclosed plan offers a glimpse into the technical separation of TikTok’s US operations and demonstrates the lengths TikTok is willing to go to mitigate bipartisan political concerns.
TikTok’s recommendation engine is key to its popularity, tailoring content feeds based on user interactions. Separating TikTok’s US operations from its Chinese parent is a complex and lengthy task, expected to take over a year.
Despite legal challenges, engineers are working to disentangle TikTok’s US recommendation engine from ByteDance’s network. Executives considered open-sourcing parts of the algorithm for transparency.
Internal updates on the project have been communicated via meetings, planning documents, and their internal system, Lark.
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