China’s new general AI agent, Manus, is creating a buzz on social media, with many users comparing its potential to that of DeepSeek. This excitement highlights the growing interest in advanced AI technologies and their impact on various fields. Users are eager to explore Manus’s capabilities and its implications for the future of artificial intelligence.
China’s new AI agent, Manus, has garnered attention for its advanced capabilities and potential applications. Designed to operate in various fields, Manus combines sophisticated natural language processing with machine learning algorithms, enabling it to converse fluently and perform complex tasks. Early demonstrations suggest its ability to both understand context and generate contextually relevant responses, making it suitable for customer services, educational tools, and even creative industries.
Developed by leading Chinese tech firms, Manus represents a significant step in China’s AI ambitions. The government has heavily invested in AI research and development, aiming to establish the country as a global leader in artificial intelligence by 2030. Manus aligns with this vision, showcasing the nation’s commitment to harnessing AI for economic growth and technological advancements.
Despite its potential, Manus raises ethical and regulatory concerns. Issues surrounding data privacy, misinformation, and bias in AI decision-making processes are critical consideration points. As China continues to refine this technology, it must navigate the challenges of integrating AI into society responsibly, ensuring that such powerful tools benefit all citizens while mitigating risks associated with their use.
China’s latest AI agent, Manus, has generated significant buzz in the tech world since its preview launch in early March 2025. Developed by a Chinese startup—reportedly either Monica.im or Butterfly Effect, depending on the source—Manus is billed as the “world’s first fully autonomous AI agent.” Unlike traditional chatbots like ChatGPT or DeepSeek, which primarily generate text-based responses, Manus is designed to independently execute complex, real-world tasks with minimal human input. Here’s what we know based on available information as of March 15, 2025.
Core Capabilities
Manus is an AI agent that goes beyond answering questions or generating ideas—it takes action. It can reportedly:
- Plan and execute multi-step tasks: Examples include creating a detailed travel itinerary for a trip to Japan, analyzing stock correlations (e.g., Nvidia, Marvell, and TSMC), or screening job resumes and ranking candidates.
- Operate autonomously: Once given a prompt, Manus works in the cloud, continuing tasks even if the user disconnects, and delivers polished results like spreadsheets, interactive webpages, or reports.
- Leverage multi-agent architecture: Rather than relying on a single large language model (LLM), Manus operates as a system of specialized sub-agents, coordinating to tackle complex workflows. It integrates existing models like Anthropic’s Claude and Alibaba’s Qwen, alongside custom components.
- Display its workflow: In demos, Manus shows its process in real-time—browsing websites, gathering data, and generating outputs—offering transparency into how it reaches its conclusions.
Demonstrations highlight its ability to build websites from scratch, analyze financial data, and even produce multimedia outputs like charts or interactive content, setting it apart from text-focused AIs.
Development and Launch
Manus was introduced on March 5, 2025, by a team led by figures like Yichao “Peak” Ji, identified as a co-founder and chief scientist, and Xiao Hong, a serial entrepreneur behind Butterfly Effect. The startup, based in Beijing and Wuhan, has a small team but has quickly gained attention. Ji has emphasized that Manus represents “the next paradigm of human-machine collaboration,” hinting at its potential as a step toward artificial general intelligence (AGI)—AI capable of human-like reasoning across diverse tasks.
Currently, Manus is in a private beta phase, accessible only via invitation codes. This exclusivity has fueled hype, with codes reportedly resold for thousands of dollars on China’s Xianyu marketplace. The team has promised to open-source parts of the system later in 2025, potentially accelerating its adoption and development.
Performance Claims
Manus’s creators claim it outperforms OpenAI’s Deep Research on the GAIA benchmark, a test evaluating an AI’s ability to reason, use tools, and handle real-world tasks. Early testers have praised its speed and autonomy, with some saying it can complete weeks of professional work in hours. For instance, one user reported it analyzed 20 CEO applicant resumes in depth, while another called it “mind-blowing” compared to OpenAI’s offerings. However, not all feedback is glowing—some testers have noted crashes, factual errors, and slower performance on research tasks compared to competitors like Deep Research.
Context in China’s AI Landscape
Manus follows DeepSeek, launched in January 2025, which was dubbed China’s “Sputnik moment” for matching U.S. chatbot performance at a lower cost. While DeepSeek focused on replicating existing capabilities, Manus is seen by some as pushing the frontier of AI autonomy. Its launch aligns with China’s aggressive AI push, bolstered by partnerships like the one announced on March 11, 2025, with Alibaba’s Qwen team to integrate and enhance its capabilities.
Hype vs. Reality
The excitement around Manus is palpable, with social media posts on X calling it an “AI CEO” that “outsmarted OpenAI” and a “bombshell” in the AI race. Influencers and early users have fueled this narrative, though skepticism persists. Critics argue it’s more of a sophisticated workflow tool than a revolutionary agent, pointing out its reliance on existing models rather than fully original tech. Others highlight bugs—like infinite loops or incorrect assumptions—as signs it’s still maturing. The invite-only rollout and server limitations have also sparked accusations of scarcity marketing, though the team insists these are genuine growing pains.
Implications and Questions
Manus raises big questions about AI’s future:
- Job Displacement: Its ability to replace human tasks—like recruitment or software development—could disrupt industries, though its reliability remains unproven at scale.
- Ethics and Regulation: Who’s accountable if an autonomous AI makes a costly mistake? Global regulators are unprepared for such systems.
- Data Privacy: Concerns linger about where Manus stores data and whether Chinese authorities can access it, given its opaque ownership structure.
- Global Competition: If Manus delivers, it could signal China overtaking the U.S. in agentic AI, forcing Western labs to accelerate their own efforts.
What’s Next?
While Manus isn’t fully public yet, its team is scaling server capacity and fixing issues, with a broader rollout expected soon. Its partnership with Alibaba and open-source plans suggest rapid evolution ahead. For now, it’s a promising but imperfect glimpse into autonomous AI—hyped as a game-changer, yet still untested in the wild. Whether it’s truly China’s next “DeepSeek moment” or just a flashy contender depends on how it matures beyond the beta phase.
