ByteDance would shut down TikTok in US rather than sell it, sources say | Technology

ByteDance would prefer to shut down TikTok rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the US, four sources said.

The algorithms TikTok relies on for its operations are deemed core to ByteDance’s overall operations, which would make a sale of the app with algorithms highly unlikely, said the sources close to the parent.

Though TikTok is ultra-popular, boasting more than a billion users, it still operates at a loss, accounting for a small share of ByteDance’s total revenues and daily active users. The…