One could imagine that the U.S. and China might clash over many things, such as the title of the world’s largest economy, technological patents, or spheres of influence. But not over a social network.

The Chinese owners of TikTok, the social network that “reads our minds” and has the best algorithm available—banned in the U.S., with the American president demanding its sale—have found a middle ground in the dispute: they are preparing a new, autonomous version of the app exclusively for U.S. users, which will operate with a separate algorithm and data system from the global version.

And it may end up in the hands of one of the American giants that Donald Trump claims are interested in acquiring it.

But why are they fighting over TikTok’s audience? Officially, Americans fear that Chinese intelligence services could use the short-video platform either to spread propaganda to influence election outcomes or as a Trojan horse to steal sensitive and non-sensitive information. After all, 170 million Americans—about half the U.S. population—are users.

Spies and scammers

Americans also see TikTok as a “gold mine” for scammers and fraudsters, something that could lead the country into economic and social chaos. At the same time, studies are being published at a rapid pace reporting that TikTok is addictive, as it trains the brain to continuously produce dopamine when used and causes a series of brain damages, mental health issues, and reduced productivity. For these reasons, its use was first suspended on devices of U.S. government officials and then for all users in the country.

President Trump had been demanding since his previous term that the network be sold to U.S. interests (he tried to shut it down in 2020, but the courts blocked him), while Joe Biden pushed through a law that Congress passed in 2024 requiring ByteDance, the Chinese company managing the platform, to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations by January 19, 2025, due to national security concerns.

Beijing strongly objected, calling it a transfer of critical technology abroad, invoking laws on the export control of strategic technologies passed in 2020. And what is this technology? The whole dispute essentially revolves around TikTok’s famous recommendation algorithm, considered the crown jewel of the platform and the sharp edge of the U.S.–China tech rivalry.

Now, teams from TikTok’s parent company are working to build a U.S. version, migrating and copying much of the existing code—from AI models and algorithms to functions and user data.

Reading the mind

The goal is to fully separate the U.S. platform from TikTok’s global infrastructure and sell it to interested investors eager to tap into the $10 billion in U.S. profits. These include major groups such as Oracle, Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic, KKR, Blackstone, and Andreessen Horowitz. The question, however, is whether the algorithm will retain the same value once it is no longer supported by ByteDance.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, back when he was still a Republican senator, said about TikTok that the Chinese “control one of the best AI algorithms in the world. It’s TikTok’s, and it uses Americans’ data to read their minds and predict what videos they want to watch next.”

Perhaps it was an exaggeration to say that TikTok’s AI algorithm reads users’ minds, but many scientists argue something even more important: that it controls it and causes harm.

In fact, based on scientific studies, it has been shown that TikTok, like other social networks operating similarly, triggers dopamine release in the brain with every video watched. This results in a sense of deprivation when the brain is not exposed to the factor that “trained” it to overproduce dopamine. In this way, addiction develops.

Put more simply: every time we stop watching one short video after another, dopamine levels drop. So, we feel the urge to return to the earlier state—and our brain pushes our hands to reopen the social network. TikTok’s algorithm can detect the language, face, and background of a video within milliseconds, suggesting content not only based on what you say but also where you say it.

Digital Sugar

This is how TikTok, thanks to its deep influence on younger audiences, became without a doubt the most impactful network on the planet—even though it is not the one with the most users. It has the power to create trends that force marketing and news giants to follow.

No matter how strange these may be—from dangerous challenges that can lead to death, to harmless lip-sync clips of the song “Dame un grrr” (“Give me a grrr”)—TikTok is not just a social media platform. It is an experience that speaks directly to the brain’s reward mechanism. It is the digital equivalent of sugar: a small dose that gives you instant pleasure and makes you crave more.

Its format (vertical video, short duration, continuous feed) is designed to leave no room for boredom. There is no buffer, no downtime. TikTok captures the eyes, the ears, the attention, and ultimately the mind. It is a system that favors overconsumption of content—not because the user has time, but because the app traps them.

One video leads effortlessly to the next. And at some point, without realizing it, the user has spent half an hour watching strangers cleaning fish, making skits, explaining conspiracy theories, or girls dancing to the latest trend shaking up TikTok’s world. The videos are so short that hundreds can be consumed in just minutes. This is also aided by its ease of use, requiring only a thumb movement—something reminiscent of casino slot machines.

According to scientists, this addiction to TikTok causes a range of mental and other problems. The most common are attention deficit and ADHD, short-term memory impairment, feelings of negativity, anxiety and depression when not using it, eating disorders, reduced reading ability, social isolation, decreased productivity, and poor academic performance for minors. It also causes sleep problems and overexposure to the so-called “blue light” of the screen.

Some of these can be explained simply. For example, it is easy to understand how TikTok reduces the attention span we can devote to a task. Familiarity with fast videos creates impatience and difficulty focusing on anything longer than the average TikTok clip.

Psychological Profile

What sets TikTok apart from every other social network is the incredible precision and aggressiveness of its algorithm. The For You Page (FYP) is designed to get to know you better than your psychoanalyst. It tracks every swipe, every pause, every like, every share. And then it feeds you more of exactly what you want to see.

TikTok’s algorithm is not based only on your preferences, but also on your behavior: How long do you watch a video? Do you rewatch it? Do you raise the volume? Do you read the comments or write your own? All of this is data, and TikTok absorbs it relentlessly. Using advanced Deep Learning techniques, the system creates a dynamic psychological profile of every user.

FBI Concerns

It was November 2022 when FBI Director Christopher Wray told U.S. lawmakers that “the Chinese government could control the recommendation algorithm, which might be used for influence operations.” It was not the first time such claims were made by U.S. officials, fueled by the fact that TikTok’s sister app, Douyin (also owned by ByteDance), available only in China, is heavily censored and designed to make educational content go viral among young people.

Essentially, what Americans were saying is that the parent company uses a harmful algorithm for Westerners—leading them to consume silly videos that reduce productivity—while deploying an “educational” algorithm for Chinese students, aiming to increase their productivity and IQ. Perhaps it is no coincidence that while TikTok is filled with videos of teenage girls dancing, Douyin is full of teenagers sharing riddles, math problems, and tips on proper language use.

Critics also accuse TikTok of collecting massive amounts of data. A cybersecurity report published in July 2022 by researchers at Internet 2.0, an Australian firm, documented this claim. The researchers examined the app’s source code and reported “excessive data collection.” It gathers details such as location, which specific device is used, and what other apps are installed.

Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that ByteDance could share TikTok user data with the Chinese government. They fear that TikTok could be forced to hand it over under China’s 2017 national security law, which requires companies to provide any personal data related to national security.

Another issue is that TikTok is owned by Beijing-based tech giant ByteDance, making it the only mainstream app not owned by an American company. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube are all U.S.-based. For years, U.S. lawmakers—along with much of the world—have maintained a level of trust that data collected would not be used for malicious purposes related to national security.

Trump’s 2020 executive order claimed that TikTok’s data collection could potentially allow China to “track the locations of federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.”

Unfortunately for TikTok, these concerns proved not to be baseless. In December 2022, ByteDance admitted it had fired four employees who collected data on BuzzFeed News and Financial Times journalists in an attempt to identify the source of a leak about the company.

Few believed that these employees acted on their own initiative, without the involvement of senior ByteDance executives—both in the effort to track down the “deep throat” exposing its misconduct and in the background check of the journalists reporting on it.

Critics argue that TikTok is a Trojan horse, a potential powerful weapon in times of conflict. The app has already been banned in India.

How It Went Viral

TikTok was born in 2016 in China as Douyin, created by tech company ByteDance. Within a year, ByteDance launched an international version, TikTok, and in 2017 acquired the app Musical.ly for $1 billion, merging the two platforms. The success was massive. By 2020 it had surpassed 1 billion users worldwide, and by 2021 it had reached 2 billion—thanks mainly to the young audience hungry for content that broke away from Instagram’s staged aesthetics.

Its founder, Zhang Yiming, said that “one day ByteDance will be as international as Google.” The 42-year-old Chinese entrepreneur, who once worked at Microsoft but quit because he was bored (!), managed to achieve exactly that—seizing the momentum created when Facebook lost its edge due to excessive intrusiveness.

TikTok is not just an app—it is an entire economy, with content creators earning thousands of dollars per month, brands shifting their budgets from television to vertical video, and an army of users producing, consuming, and shaping trends in real time.

In 2023, ByteDance reported revenues exceeding $120 billion. TikTok alone contributed more than $20 billion. The company’s valuation is unclear, since it is not publicly listed, but estimates range between $250 billion and $400 billion. According to the latest data from Fourthwall, TikTok has over 1.5 billion active users each month.

The U.S. is TikTok’s largest market outside of China, with more than 150 million active users, 60% of whom are between 16 and 34 years old. Among them, Gen Z (those born after 1997) spends on average more than 90 minutes per day on the app. In many countries, TikTok has even surpassed YouTube in average watch time.

YouTube still has more users (2.5 billion globally compared to TikTok’s 1.5 billion), but TikTok is growing much faster. And while other social networks celebrate posts reaching a few million likes, the most viral TikTok videos surpass 1 billion views.

How much is a video worth?

The TikTok Creator Fund pays creators based on views, engagement, and content quality. While the rates per view are small (usually $0.02–$0.04 per 1,000 views), top creators earn far more through sponsorships, affiliate marketing, and in-app gifts.

The top influencers on TikTok make staggering amounts of money. Addison Rae, for example, with 88 million followers, earned $8.5 million in a single year—surpassing the annual salary of Apple’s CEO Tim Cook for the same year. Some TikTok creators are paid over $10,000 for a single 30-second sponsored video.

Notable examples:

• Charli D’Amelio, with more than 150 million followers, is reported to have earned over $15 million in one year through TikTok and partnerships.
• Addison Rae, a dance and lifestyle influencer, has landed deals with Netflix, American Eagle, and Reebok.

TikTok users are not just viewers—they are producers, consumers, and commodities at the same time. Their data is exploited to perfect the algorithm, tailor ads, and optimize targeted content promotion.

This dual role—both audience and tool—is what often raises concerns about the future of privacy in the digital era. For millions of users worldwide, however, TikTok remains the most entertaining, spontaneous, and unpredictable corner of the Internet.

10 Reasons TikTok Is an Economy of Its Own

1. Top TikTok influencers earn more than tech CEOs
   Addison Rae, with around 88 million followers, made over $8.5 million in a year—exceeding the annual pay of Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook.
2. $10,000 for a single 30-second sponsored video!
   Some TikTok creators are paid astonishing amounts. Collaboration costs depend on views, content type, and influence level.
3. 2.3 billion views
   The most viral TikTok video ever—a magic illusion clip by Zach King, where he appears to fly on a broom like Harry Potter—has over 2.3 billion views.
4. Charli D’Amelio’s record
   She became the first TikTok user to surpass 100 million followers—within just 18 months on the platform.
5. The 21-second rule
   The average length of a viral TikTok video is only 21 seconds. This short format maximizes attention retention and engagement.
6. Most downloaded app in the world
   TikTok surpassed Facebook and Instagram in downloads in 2022, becoming the most downloaded app globally, with more than 3.5 billion total installs.
7. Millions in sales with a hashtag
   #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt is one of the most popular hashtags with over 80 billion views and has driven millions of product sales—from eyeliner to vacuum cleaners.
8. Reshaping the music charts
   “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X went viral on TikTok before becoming the longest-running #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
9. An algorithm like no other
   TikTok’s AI can detect the language, face, and background of a video within milliseconds, recommending content based not only on what you say, but also where you say it.
10. A powerful influence machine
    Over 70% of TikTok users say they feel “inspired” to buy or try something they saw on the platform. For Gen Z, this makes TikTok an even more powerful influence tool than television.