The clock is ticking on TikTok—and a reboot is in the works. As the U.S. government’s September 17 deadline approaches for ByteDance to sell the app or face a national ban, the company is reportedly building a separate version of TikTok specifically for American users. According to The Information, ByteDance has codenamed the project “M2” and is positioning it as a workaround to keep TikTok live in the U.S.

The company plans to launch M2 on September 5, just 12 days before the federal cutoff. This deadline—already extended three times—traces back to a law President Biden signed in April 2024, which gave TikTok roughly five months to either divest its U.S. operations or risk removal from app stores.

ByteDance’s move comes as TikTok continues to dominate American digital culture, especially among younger users. The app ranks as the second most-downloaded on U.S. Android devices, just behind ChatGPT, according to analytics firm Appfigures. A 2024 Pew Research Center report also found that TikTok is the most widely used social media platform among Gen Z.

The stakes are high. If ByteDance fails to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations—or cannot fully separate its data and code from Chinese infrastructure—Apple and Google must legally remove the app from their platforms. To avoid that outcome, ByteDance is developing M2 as a standalone U.S. app, which would ultimately replace the existing version for American users.

President Trump, who previously attempted to ban TikTok in 2020, has reentered the spotlight. Last week, he claimed a deal was “pretty much” finalized and that a “group of very wealthy people” were set to purchase the app. He said final discussions were expected this week.

But geopolitical hurdles remain. A prior deal involving Oracle and Walmart collapsed after Chinese officials indicated they wouldn’t authorize a forced sale. Trump has acknowledged the ongoing complication, stating that the U.S. would “probably” still need China’s approval to complete any agreement.

If the current plan holds, TikTok’s existing app would remain live for several more months—likely until March 2026, though that timeline is subject to change. After that, U.S. users may very well need to download M2 to keep scrolling.