Meta acquires AI startup Manus for $2.5 billion, deepening global AI power struggle

Meta Platforms is paying $2.5 billion to acquire Manus, an artificial intelligence company that started in China but now calls Singapore home. The deal includes a $500 million pool to keep employees on board, according to sources with knowledge of the transaction.

It’s a major moment in the battle for global AI supremacy, with a major American tech company acquiring a startup with strong Chinese ties. This is generating numerous questions regarding the future of other Chinese AI companies seeking to expand internationally and draw in American investment.

Manus executives rejected Chinese offers to stay relevant in the West

Manus, which came out of parent company Butterfly Effect, built a tool that cranks out detailed research reports and handles all sorts of complex tasks using AI models from Anthropic and others. 

But here’s where things get interesting. Manus’s leaders, Xiao Hong and Ji Yichao, have distanced themselves from China. Earlier this year, several Chinese local governments came knocking with investment offers. The founders said no. 

They worried that taking Chinese government money would put them under a microscope in the West and mess up their international business.

They also ditched a plan to team up with Alibaba on a Chinese version of the tool, even though they’d announced it in March, sources said.

In 2025, Manus executed strategic business initiatives aimed at drawing in international investment and promoting global expansion. The firm moved its HQ to Singapore, grew its local workforce, and formed alliances with Microsoft and Stripe. It also secured $75 million in funding spearheaded by Benchmark, a well-known American venture capital firm.

In December, Manus said its revenue run rate had jumped to $125 million from $90 million in August.

Meta started talking about the acquisition in mid-December. Mark Zuckerberg wanted to get a deal done before the year ended, sources said. Some of the startup’s existing investors were caught off guard by how fast it all happened, according to those sources.

Before Meta came calling, Manus executives and their investors had been weighing whether to stay independent and raise a lot more money, people familiar with the discussions said. They were facing the same problem many successful AI startups run into: getting to global scale without a platform partner like Meta would be tough and expensive, and raising more money could make them too pricey for anyone to buy.

What Manus gets from the deal

The acquisition hands Manus the keys to Meta’s distribution channels, WhatsApp, Instagram, and a parent company with deep pockets for computing and infrastructure costs. Meta says it’ll keep running and selling Manus’s service while weaving it into its social media products.

“Manus’s exceptional talent will join Meta’s team to deliver general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including in Meta AI,” Meta said to the Wall Street Journal.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone made clear that Chinese ownership in Manus ends when the deal closes, and the startup will shut down its services and operations in China.

The deal got mixed reactions in Beijing and Washington

Some Chinese officials weren’t happy, viewing Manus as proof of China’s AI strength, sources said. They figured the sale would hand over technology built by Chinese engineers to the United States and push other startups to follow the same path. 

Beijing doesn’t seem to have many ways to stop the transaction since Manus operates out of Singapore.

Washington was pretty quiet about it, which suggests Manus’s work to follow American rules on overseas investments in key technologies eased worries about its Chinese ties.

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