Meta to acquire Chinese AI startup Manus to expand advanced AI capabilities

Meta has officially declared the acquisition of AI startup Manus, a strategic move to pivot from simple chatbots towards autonomous agents capable of managing intricate projects across its platforms.

Industry giant Meta has been accelerating AI investments through acquisitions as it navigates aggressive competition.

Meanwhile, Facebook-parent Meta invested in Scale AI earlier this year in a deal valuing the data-annotation startup at $29 billion and bringing in its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang.

According to Reuters, financial terms of Meta’s deal with Menus were not released.

Based in Singapore, Manus develops a general-purpose AI agent that operates as a digital employee, independently executing complex tasks like research and automation with only basic instructions.

The company stated that Meta will continue to operate and sell the Manus service, while also incorporating its technology into both consumer and business products, including Meta AI.

Manus launched its AI agent, it asserted that its performance outshone that of OpenAI’s AI agent, DeepResearch.

Manus is among a flurry of Chinese firms that have redomiciled in Singapore recently, betting on a move to the trade-focused city-state would insulate their operations from the ongoing Sino-US geopolitical competition.

The acquisition represents a significant transformation from generative AI to agentic AI, capitalizing on the momentum of the fastest growing AI startup in history.