If it comes to that, TikTok owner ByteDance would rather opt for a ban in the US than a forced sale. The algorithms that TikTok uses are so important to ByteDance that it does not want to sell them at all costs.
Earlier this week, the US approved a law that forces TikTok to sell: otherwise it will be banned. Yesterday people were still thinking out loud about TikTok’s price tag – which would be in the billions. But owner ByteDance does not want it to get to that point, sources told Reuters.
The algorithms that TikTok uses are too important for ByteDance. And because those algorithms are inextricably linked to the operation of TikTok, a sale of TikTok would be ‘highly unlikely’, according to sources ‘close to the parent company’. TikTok’s algorithms can quickly learn what someone likes and thus recommend better videos. Previous research showed that within minutes the algorithm knows someone well enough to keep that person engaged, based on likes, watch time, how quickly someone swipes past certain videos or not.
US only a small share of turnover
According to the source, TikTok would only account for ‘a small part’ of ByteDance’s turnover. In the US, TikTOk’s turnover is said to have been $16 billion last year, out of a total turnover of $120 billion for ByteDance that year.
ByteDance has denied stories on one of its other social media sites, Toutiao, that it plans to sell TikTok. In addition, ByteDance CEO Shou Zi Chew expects that the company can win a lawsuit against the legislation, so that the app can remain available to the 170 million Americans active on TikTok. A ban would also be a blow to the supply of content, because many TikTokkers popular in Europe come from the US.
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