Meta Platforms Inc. announced on Monday that it will acquire Manus, a Chinese-founded artificial intelligence startup, as the company steps up efforts to integrate advanced AI capabilities across its consumer and business platforms. (Reuters)
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. However, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said the deal values the Singapore-based firm at between $2 billion and $3 billion. Manus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Founded in China and later relocated to Singapore, Manus gained international attention earlier this year after a viral debut on X, where it unveiled what it described as the world’s first general AI agent. Unlike conventional AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or DeepSeek, Manus claims its system can make decisions and execute complex tasks autonomously with significantly less user prompting. The launch prompted commentators to label the company “China’s next DeepSeek” and drew praise from Chinese state television.
Several months later, Manus moved its headquarters from China to Singapore, joining a broader wave of Chinese technology companies seeking to mitigate geopolitical and regulatory risks stemming from escalating U.S.-China tensions. Its products are not available in China.
Despite the relocation, regulatory scrutiny in the United States appears likely. “Scrutiny is almost guaranteed; anything with Chinese roots and ‘AI’ in the headline now triggers Washington’s reflexes,” said Jeremy Goldman, senior director at Emarketer.
Meta said it will operate and commercialize the Manus service and integrate it into its existing ecosystem, including Meta AI and a range of consumer and business offerings. Analysts see particular potential in Meta’s messaging platforms. “We see a natural fit into Meta’s fast-growing WhatsApp SMB footprint, with extensions into CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s agentic-rich vision of personal AI,” said Barton Crockett, an analyst at Rosenblatt Securities.
Manus claims that the performance of its AI agent surpasses OpenAI’s DeepResearch product. The company also maintains a strategic partnership with Alibaba to collaborate on the development of AI models.
The acquisition comes as Meta and other technology giants intensify AI investment through a mix of strategic acquisitions and high-profile talent hires amid fierce competition in the sector. Earlier this year, Meta invested in data-labeling startup Scale AI in a deal that valued the company at $29 billion and brought its 28-year-old chief executive, Alexandr Wang, into Meta’s orbit.
Manus, backed by its parent company Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology, raised $75 million earlier this year at a valuation of approximately $500 million, according to the same source, confirming earlier media reports. The funding round was led by U.S. venture capital firm Benchmark. Other investors include HSG (formerly Sequoia Capital China), ZhenFund, and Tencent Holdings, according to PitchBook data.
The deal underscores Meta’s ambition to position itself at the forefront of so-called “agentic AI,” systems designed not just to respond to user queries but to act autonomously on users’ behalf—a direction that could significantly reshape consumer and enterprise applications across Meta’s platforms.