March 15 (Reuters) - China's ByteDance-owned TikTok

posted revenue of about $16 billion last year in the United

States, where the viral video app that has hooked Gen Z users is

at the risk of being banned, the Financial Times reported on

Friday.

ByteDance's revenue of $120 billion in 2023 was up about 40%

from a year earlier, driven by TikTok's exploding growth,

although China accounts for a big portion of the company's

sales, the FT reported, citing five people with knowledge of the

matter.

The short video app, used by about 170 million Americans,

achieved record sales in the United States in 2023, according to

the report.

ByteDance, nicknamed "App Factory" due to its frequent

releases of mobile applications, is on track to overtake

Facebook-parent Meta Platforms ( META ) as the world's largest

social media company by sales, the report added.

Meta's 2023 revenue rose 16% to $134.90 billion.

ByteDance did not immediately respond to a Reuters request

for comment.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday

overwhelmingly passed a bill that would give ByteDance about six

months to divest the U.S. assets of TikTok, or face a ban.

TikTok was the most downloaded social media app in the

United States in 2023, with 47 million downloads. Facebook and

Instagram came in at second and third place, with 35 million and

34 million downloads, respectively, according to market

intelligence firm Sensor Tower.