Google Plans TikTok Rival in the Form of YouTube Shorts

The Shorts feature will reportedly make use of all the music that Google-owned YouTube has licensed already, with songs to "be available to use as soundtracks for the videos created by users," according to The Information.

YouTube declined to comment on the matter.

"We don't comment on rumor or speculation," a YouTube spokesperson said in an email.

TikTok, a social media platform where users post short videos, was the most-downloaded app of 2019 with more than 700 million downloads. But US politicians have argued that the China-based company could pose a national security threat and have kicked off an investigation.

The US Army banned TikTok from government phones, heeding Pentagon guidance and a similar ban by the US Navy. The TSA stopped using TikTok videos in its social media posts last month. TikTok does now have an American content advisory panel.