With a potential U.S. ban just weeks away, TikTok’s Chinese owner is secretly building a replacement version of the app.

Fez– TikTok is bracing for its biggest shake-up yet as the Chinese tech giant ByteDance scrambles to meet a high-stakes deadline set by the White House. 

With September 17 marked in red on the calendar, the company is reportedly developing a separate U.S. version of the app, codenamed “M2”, in a last-minute bid to avoid an outright ban.

The move comes amid mounting pressure from Washington, where President Donald Trump previously demanded that TikTok’s American operations be transferred to a U.S. owner over national security concerns. 

Failure to comply could see the popular short-video platform blocked across the country under legislation passed last year.

According to a report first published by “CNET”, TikTok’s American spin-off is expected to be unveiled on September 5, triggering a forced migration for all U.S.-based users. 

Once “M2” goes live, everyone currently using TikTok stateside would be prompted to download the new version of the app, a switch which could have massive consequences, especially for content creators and brands whose businesses depend heavily on TikTok’s reach.

ByteDance has been granted multiple extensions in the past, with the current deadline pushed three times since Trump took office. 

But officials have made it clear this is likely the final grace period. Complicating matters further are Apple App Store regulations, which prohibit hosting multiple regional versions of an app under a single listing, meaning creating a whole new U.S.-only app may be TikTok’s only viable solution.

If the plan goes ahead, existing TikTok users in the United States will likely be given several months to make the switch. 

Industry insiders suggest that the original app will remain functional until around March 2026, creating a six-month transition window. 

Still, this timeline hasn’t been confirmed, and the lack of official transparency is already causing anxiety across the creator community.

At the heart of the concern is one critical unknown: how different will the U.S. version be? ByteDance has yet to clarify whether the American app will mirror the global version or whether it will come with stricter content controls, limited access to international trends, or a revised algorithm shaped by local regulatory expectations.

For small businesses, influencers, artists, and marketers who have built their brands on TikTok’s unique cultural mix and viral power, such changes could prove disruptive, especially if the new version rolls out without clear guidance or if it fragments audiences across two separate platforms.

TikTok’s future in the U.S. has been a geopolitical football for years, with proposed bans, stalled acquisition talks, court battles, and intense lobbying campaigns all making headlines. 

But as September looms, ByteDance is running against the clock to pull off its most ambitious tactic yet: reinventing TikTok for America,  without losing the magic that made it a global phenomenon in the first place.