Ultimately, China gets to keep the TikTok algorithm, simply licensing the algorithm to the US instead of handing over the heart of TikTok's success. As Ars previously reported, that means the US could end up with a glitchier version of TikTok, with sources telling WSJ that TikTok engineers will be forced to "re-create a set of content-recommendation algorithms" for the US app if the deal goes through.