, Columnist
China Just Called Trump's Bluff on TikTok
AI and algorithms are TikTok’s secret sauce, and Beijing knows it.
Is Trump being outplayed on TikTok?
Photographer: Bloomberg
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Imagine a bidder wanting to buy KFC, but being told the deal might not include the Colonel’s 11 secret herbs and spices. That’s effectively what Beijing has told the list of U.S. companies keen to purchase short-video app TikTok: The key ingredients may be out of reach.
At first it looked like the Trump administration had it all figured out.