As lawmakers and regulators zero in on issues around Chinese tech companies and U.S. tech companies' ties to China, the longstanding low U.S. profile of Chinese tech brands is beginning to change.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that the big picture: Our devices are made in China but our software and services, for the most part, aren't. TikTok is a big exception - and now the video-sharing network is under fire amid concerns over its Chinese ownership and the potential for censorship or risks to user data.

For its part, the company has broken its silence and is on a media campaign to distance itself from the Chinese government, an effort that could include a rebranding to disassociate the service from its Chinese ownership, per the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, CEO Alex Zhu told the New York Times that he would go as far as to personally reject an appeal for user data even if it came from Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He also reiterated that TikTok doesn't store U.S. user data in China and doesn't share such data with its Chinese parent company.