The chair of the House Select Committee on China has expressed serious concerns about a proposed licensing agreement for TikToks algorithm as part of the planned sale of the apps U.S. assets by ByteDance, its China-based parent company.
Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican, said Thursday that allowing China to retain leverage over TikToks algorithm poses risks, noting that he is awaiting a briefing on the details of the deal. I think anytime you have China with leverage over the algorithm, I think thats a problem, Moolenaar said during an event at the Hudson Institute.
The White House has said the deal would see new U.S. owners license the algorithm from ByteDance. Technology experts have raised questions about whether the algorithm can be meaningfully reprogrammed, given its complexity.
