A request for a change in ownership, first reported in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), was confirmed to BBC News by TikTok.
The company said a forced sale would not change its data flows or access.
The White House has not yet responded to a BBC News request for comment.
For years American officials have raised concerns that data from the popular app could fall into the hands of the Chinese government.
According to the WSJ, US President Joe Biden's administration wants ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok to create a clear break from China.
The popular video sharing app has faced bans across the world in the past.
Under Donald Trump, Tiktok was repeatedly threatened with bans.
In Pakistan too, the app was banned in 2020. However, the ban was short lived as TikTok complied with the demands from Pakistani authorities to get itself unbanned.
India has also threatened to ban TikTok. However, the platform continues to grow bigger by the day.