It’s going to be to their advantage to claim that they’re shutting down, even if they actually want that $50B buyout. If they say they’re going to sell, they’re going to lose what little leverage they have left. The public that wants TikTok will get TikTok, and they’re going to stop pestering politicians about it.

Why though? Why would they give up their trade secrets? They have a global market.

They could sell the user accounts and content and let another company clip that into their own recommendation algo.

I’ve been a part of a few tech acquisitions that have worked this way. They keep their secret sauce but hand over the community.