The operations of China-owned TikTok in the U.S. raise national security concerns, FBI Director Chris Wray said, noting the risk that the Chinese government could use the app to influence users or control their devices, Reuters reported.

He said the risks include the possibility that the Chinese government could use TikTok to control data collection on millions of users or control a recommendation algorithm that could be used for influence operations.

He also added that Beijing could use the popular ByteDance-owned app to control the software on millions of devices, giving it the ability to technically compromise those devices.

The U.S. government's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews acquisitions of foreign companies in the United States for potential national security risks, ordered ByteDance to sell TikTok in 2020 because of concerns that U.S. user data could be shared with the Chinese government.

CFIUS and TikTok have been negotiating for months to reach a national security agreement to protect the data of more than 100 million TikTok users.

TikTok CEO Vanessa Pappas told the U.S. Congress in September that TikTok was moving toward a final agreement with the U.S. government to further protect U.S. user data and fully consider U.S. national security interests.