Business
Meta Acquires AI Agent Startup Manus for $2B Amid Beijing's Export Review
Meta is buying agent startup Manus for over $2B to bring task-completing AI into its products, but China may review the deal for export controls.
Meta’s acquisition pushes it firmly into agentic AI, especially for managing complex tasks. But a regulatory review in China could make it harder to transfer the technology.
Manus hit $100 million in annual recurring revenue only eight months after launching. The Singapore-based startup lets users create AI agents to browse the web, fill out forms, and handle multi-step tasks. This rapid growth, including the creation of 80 million virtual computers since March, attracted Meta’s interest.
Meta confirmed the acquisition on Monday but did not disclose the financial details. According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal valued Manus at over $2 billion, making it one of the largest AI startup acquisitions this year. Shortly after, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced it would review whether the deal needs an export license, introducing new regulatory considerations.
Originally, the parent company, Butterfly Effect, was founded in Beijing in 2022 by Xiao Hong before moving to Singapore last June, a move that was a central factor in China's decision to investigate.
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"Meta’s acquisition aims to give its platforms a brain transplant," says independent technology analyst Carmi Levy. "Building this technology in-house proved too difficult for Meta’s culture."
Meta believes Manus’s technology could turn its AI assistant from a chatbot into a task-completion tool. The company said it plans to "deliver general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including in Meta AI." Meta has not shared many details yet.
This deal is part of a bigger industry race to build autonomous AI agents. For instance, OpenAI launched its Operator agent in late 2025, while Google’s Gemini Agents and Microsoft’s Copilot Agents are already integrated into their platforms. Axios recently reported that Meta has started a new project, Meta Compute, to grow its AI infrastructure. Up to now, Meta has had fits and starts with its AI product deployments, with its open-source llama effort losing steam in late 2024.
Xiao Hong, the founder and CEO of Manus, told users that the service will continue to run independently following the acquisition. "Joining Meta allows us to build on a stronger, more sustainable foundation without changing how Manus works or how decisions are made," he said after the announcement. The company will continue to offer its own app and website subscriptions. However, the Associated Press reports that China’s investigation into Meta’s acquisition of Manus now adds uncertainty, and The Washington Post notes that China will review and investigate the deal, underscoring ongoing technology tensions. According to AP News, Meta and Manus did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the Ministry of Commerce’s review. The situation has drawn comparisons to the sale of TikTok’s algorithm to ByteDance’s Singapore branch. In that case, Chinese regulators blocked the export of recommendation technology. Now, the reverse may be happening, as regulators examine whether Manus’s move to Singapore was enough to avoid their control.
In the next few weeks, it will become clear whether Beijing sees this as just a business deal or a test of its control over AI technology that originated in China but has since moved abroad. If regulators block the deal, it could speed up the split in AI development between the U.S. and China, with Singapore and other hubs caught in the middle.