TikTok’s ‘ban’ problem could end soon with a new app and a sale

Even with the TikTok divest-or-ban law officially in effect since January, the app has only shut down service in the US for one day. Now, The Information reports that an agreement for a sale satisfying the law’s requirements is close and would come with a new, separate version of the app.

Any deal, however, would need approval from the Chinese government, which is also still wrangling with the Trump administration over tariffs.

Earlier today, the Wall Street Journal reported that the General Services Administration says Oracle has reached a new agreement with the federal government that “is the first of its kind that provides the entire government with a discount on cloud infrastructure,” with a 75 percent discount on licensed software.

TikTok’s staff is reportedly working on a new version of the app — dubbed M2, to the current app’s internal M designation — for release in app stores on September 5th. Trump issued a third legally questionable extension of the deadline to ban TikTok from US app stores last month, which is set to expire in mid-September. According to The Information’s unnamed source, under the current timeline, the original TikTok app would leave app stores as the new one launches and then stop working entirely in March 2026.