ByteDance Tells U.S. It Won’t Sell TikTok’s Algorithm

The algorithm is just a ranking of statistical probabilities—not some magic spell. Microsoft’s world class engineers could easily replicate that.

I’m not so sure if buying only TikTok’s U.S. user base is worth it, though. TikTok’s switching costs are much lower, and the network effects are weaker compared to something like Facebook/Instagram. Look at the amount of people uploading their watermarked TikTok videos to Reels. Build some decent video editing tools and they will come.