US lawmaker says licensing deal for TikTok algorithm would raise ‘serious concerns’

WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) – The chair of the House Select Committee on China said Thursday that a licensing agreement for use of the TikTok algorithm as part of a deal by Chinese-based ByteDance to sell U.S. assets of the short video app would raise “serious concerns.”

Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican, is waiting for a briefing to get more details on the deal that White House officials said previously would include the new owners of TikTok’s U.S. assets licensing the algorithm. “I think anytime you have (China) with leverage over the algorithm, I think that’s a problem,” Moolenaar said at a forum.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 25 declaring the plan to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to a consortium of U.S. and global investors meets the national security requirements set out in a 2024 law and gave them 120 days to complete the transaction.

“I just believe you have to have a new algorithm, and I don’t know that you can reprogram,” Moolenaar added, pointing to technology experts saying that it is unclear precisely what is in the algorithm. “I would say it’s still very much a work in progress.”

Trump last month delayed until January 20 enforcement of the law banning the app used by 170 million Americans unless its Chinese owners sell it.

Trump’s order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

The agreement on TikTok’s U.S. operations includes the appointment by ByteDance of one of seven board members for the new entity, with Americans holding the other six seats.

ByteDance would hold less than 20% in TikTok U.S. to comply with requirements set out in the 2024 law that ordered it shut down by January 2025 if ByteDance did not sell its U.S. assets.