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Legally, ByteDance had to find a new owner for TikTok by January 2025, but President Donald Trump has extended the deadline to keep TikTok active. Many have questioned the legality of Trump’s efforts to keep TikTok active without a new owner. There have been a number of very interested parties from wealthy businessmen to giant American-owned corporations that would love to own TikTok. Microsoft is one of many companies that has reportedly been in talks to acquire the social media app, but it’s unclear who will end up taking over the app.
With that said, a new report from The Information claims that TikTok is developing a new version of the app ahead of an expected sale to an unnamed company. The new app will reportedly launch in September prior to the deadline on Trump’s third extension for ByteDance to find a new TikTok owner. All of this could be delayed once again, but for now, this remains the plan. Trump is expected to have a meeting with Chinese officials in order to discuss the sale of TikTok and believes that the deal is pretty much cemented.
As a result of this new app, TikTok’s current app will stop working in March 2026 and users will be forced to migrate to this new version of the social media app. It’s not entirely clear what will be different about the app, but it will likely allow the United States government to feel more secure about its national security concerns. It’s unclear if this new app will still be known as TikTok or if there will be any kind of rebranding. It’s hard to imagine the app changing too much given TikTok has been so carefully constructed, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
