With a U.S. ban on TikTok set to take effect Thursday the China company is becoming restless as the administration of outgoing President Donald Trump hasn't given the company any updates on its status.
The company was to be banned for doing business in the U.S. as of Thursday but it now is unclear if the Trump administration will make good on an ultimatum for parent company ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets.
TikTok - estimated to have around 100 million users in the U.S. and more than 1,500 staff - asked a federal appeals court to "set aside" the government's sell order to give the social networking app and ByteDance more room to work with regulators on addressing security concerns.
According to sources with knowledge of the matter, TikTok hasn't had any meaningful discussions with the administration's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in the past few weeks.
In a petition filed in a U.S. Court of Appeals calling for an evaluation of actions by the committee, TikTok said the reason for its filing is that it hasn't heard from the panel in a long time.
It is also unclear what will happen if the deadline passes. TikTok was granted an initial injunction in October. TikTok said that for a year it had actively engaged with the committee "in good faith to address its national security concerns - even as we disagree with its assessment," The Verge quoted the company as saying in a statement.
Sources said TikTok executives were still interested in finalizing a technology collaboration with Oracle to ease national security worries - even if U.S. President-elect Joe Biden isn't as bothered with the company's risk profile.
TikTok said it remained fully committed to working with the administration to resolve the issues but its legal action was "a protection to ensure these discussions can take place."
