China has blocked Meta’s attempt to buy one of the world’s most high-profile artificial intelligence startups.
The unwinding of the $2 billion acquisition of Manus, which is based in Singapore but was founded in China, comes as Chinese authorities attempt to prevent US firms from taking local talent and intellectual property.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Monday it would “prohibit foreign investment in Manus in accordance with laws and regulations, and requires the parties involved to withdraw the acquisition transaction.”
Manus first gained global attention last year after its researchers claimed to have developed the “world’s first” fully autonomous AI agent.
The general-purpose AI was designed to carry out a variety of tasks independently, from booking holidays to developing video games.
Manus co-founder Yichao Ji described it as “the next evolution of AI” when he first shared a demo video of its abilities last March.
“This isn’t just another chatbot or workflow, it’s a truly autonomous agent that bridges the gap between conception and execution,” he said.
“Where other AI stops at generating ideas, Manus delivers results… We see it as the next paradigm of human-machine collaboration, and potentially a glimpse into AGI (artificial general intelligence).”
Within a week of its unveiling it had attracted a waiting list of more than 2 million people.
Victor Mustar, the head of product at the AI platform Hugging Face and an early user of Manus, described it as “mind blowing” in its capabilities.
“Got access and it’s true… Manus is the most impressive AI tool I’ve ever tried,” he wrote on X. “The user experience is what so many others promised… but this time it just works.”
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, announced last December that it would be supercharging its AI ambitions by purchasing Manus for a reported $2 billion.
“Joining Meta is the logical next step in our journey to scale world-class AI products,” Manus CEO Xiao Hong said in a statement shared with The Independent at the time.
“By partnering with Meta’s existing teams, we can integrate Manus’s technology across a global AI portfolio, bringing our autonomous agent capabilities to millions of businesses and creators.”
Last month, Mr Ji and fellow co-founder Xiao Hong were blocked from leaving China while regulators reviewed Meta’s acquisition.
Meta said at the time that the acquisition “complied fully with applicable law”.
The Independent has reached out to Meta for comment on whether it plans to contest Monday’s NDRC ruling.
