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According to a report from The Information on Sunday, TikTok is in the process of developing a new version of its app specifically for users in the United States, as it prepares for a potential sale to a consortium of investors.
This development follows an announcement from US President Donald Trump, who stated on Friday that he plans to initiate discussions with China on Monday or Tuesday regarding a possible transaction involving TikTok.
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Trump remarked that the US is “pretty much” close to finalizing a deal for the sale of the popular short-video application.
The report indicated that TikTok aims to release the new version of the app in US app stores by September 5.
In a recent decision, Trump pushed back the deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok’s US operations to September 17.
According to the report, users of TikTok will eventually need to download the updated app to continue accessing the service, although the current app will remain functional until March of next year, subject to potential changes in the timeline.
TikTok has not yet provided a response to a request for comments from Reuters, which was also unable to immediately verify the report.
Earlier this year, discussions had been underway to separate TikTok’s US operations into a new company, primarily owned and managed by American investors. However, this plan was stalled after China expressed its disapproval, coinciding with Trump’s announcement of significant tariffs on Chinese products.
Trump indicated that any deal would likely need to receive approval from China.