TikTok building US-based copy of recommendation algorithm amid potential sale or ban: report

TikTok is reportedly building a copy of its core recommendation algorithm in the US – an effort that is playing out even as the company tries to block a law requiring its China-based parent ByteDance to divest or face a total US ban of the app.

Efforts to rebuild the algorithm would allow the popular video-sharing app to operate separately from ByteDance — potentially clearing the way for it to remain operational if TikTok was sold to a US buyer, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the situation.

ByteDance reportedly ordered engineers to begin work on cloning the algorithm last year before US lawmakers threw their support behind the legislation.

Despite the effort, sources told the outlet there are no current plans to sell TikTok.

The algorithm is essential to powering TikTok, which has more than 170 million US users.

The complicated project is expected to take more than a year to complete and requires creating a code base in the US that’s separate from any systems used by ByteDance, the report said.