The Trump administration is considering a deal to save TikTok that would have China maintaining control of the algorithm that will be leased to a U.S. company, with a minority ownership stake, a source close to the deal said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trump administration is eyeing an executive order for the president to sign Friday that will extend the deadline to sell or face a ban<\/a> in the U.S., the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The administration has set an April 5 deadline for the app to be banned if it is not sold by it’s Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s unclear if that proposal follows the bipartisan law that Congress passed, which forces TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the wildly popular social media platform or face a ban in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law bans “the establishment or maintenance of any operational relationship” between the U.S. app and “any formerly affiliated entities that are controlled by a foreign adversary, including any cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The algorithm is the secret sauce that makes TikTok so addictive and popular, and it’s the source of national security concerns over Chinese ownership of the app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of that, the source said buyers are demanding liability protection. They are only willing to spend billions on TikTok if there are guarantees that they won’t be sued by the next administration, according to the source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In flux right now is how they will be given that guarantee. Potential buyers are looking for an indemnification or an adjustment to the law, which would need congressional action.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Among those potential buyers: Amazon. The company sent a letter to the Trump administration to join the bidding war for TikTok, sources told ABC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mobile tech company AppLovin and a group including tech giant Oracle have also made bids to buy the app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if Trump approves a deal, China will still need to sign off on it, and Beijing isn’t too happy right now with the country about to be hit with a whopping 54% tariff<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Wednesday, Trump and senior administration officials considered multiple proposals. It’s unclear if a decision has been made on how to move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump has said publicly that if an agreement isn’t reached by the deadline, he will just extend it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House has not immediately responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n