Meta will acquire Manus, a Singapore-based AI startup founded in China, as the company accelerates its push to integrate advanced AI across its services.
Financial terms were not officially disclosed. A source familiar with the deal valued Manus at between $2 bn and $3 bn. The firm gained attention earlier this year after claiming to launch the world’s first general AI agent, capable of making decisions and completing tasks with minimal prompting compared with traditional AI chatbots.
Beijing has expressed interest in supporting Manus, which claims its AI agent outperforms OpenAI’s DeepResearch. The startup also has a strategic partnership with Alibaba to collaborate on AI model development.
Meta plans to operate and sell the Manus service and incorporate it into its consumer and business products, including Meta AI. Tech companies like Meta have been increasing AI investments through acquisitions and hiring talent amid intense competition.
Earlier this year, Meta invested in Scale AI, a data-labeling startup valued at $29 bn, bringing in CEO Alexandr Wang. Manus, backed by parent company Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology, raised $75 mln this year at a valuation of roughly $500 mln, according to sources. Investors include Benchmark, HSG, ZhenFund and Tencent Holdings.
Manus is part of a growing number of Chinese firms moving to Singapore to reduce risks linked to geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S.
Kursiv also reports that Microsoft and Nvidia are investing in AI startup Anthropic under a new partnership that includes a $30 bn commitment by Anthropic to use Microsoft’s cloud services.
