San Francisco: Meta has moved to deepen its artificial intelligence ambitions by agreeing to acquire Chinese-founded startup Manus, marking another significant step in the company’s push to integrate advanced AI technologies across its consumer and business platforms.
Meta said the acquisition will allow the company to operate and sell Manus’s services while embedding the technology into products including Meta AI. Although financial terms were not disclosed, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said the transaction values Manus at between $2 billion (£1.6 billion) and $3 billion (£2.4 billion).
Manus, now based in Singapore, gained global attention earlier this year after releasing what it described as the world’s first general AI agent. The company claimed the system is capable of making autonomous decisions and executing tasks with far less prompting than traditional AI chatbots. The technology was widely shared online and was at one point compared to China’s highly anticipated DeepSeek model.
Excited to announce that @ManusAI has joined Meta to help us build amazing AI products!
The Manus team in Singapore are world class at exploring the capability overhang of today’s models to scaffold powerful agents.
Looking forward to working with you, @Red_Xiao_!
— Alexandr Wang (@alexandr_wang) December 29, 2025
Beijing has shown interest in supporting Manus, which has said its AI agent outperforms OpenAI’s DeepResearch on several benchmarks. The startup also maintains a strategic partnership with Alibaba to collaborate on AI model development, highlighting its growing relevance within the global artificial intelligence ecosystem.
The acquisition fits into Meta’s broader strategy of accelerating AI investment through targeted purchases and talent acquisition. Earlier this year, the Facebook-owner invested in Scale AI in a deal that valued the data-labeling firm at $29 billion (£23 billion), bringing its chief executive Alexandr Wang into Meta’s leadership circle.
Manus is backed by its parent company, Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology, and raised $75 million (£58 million) earlier this year at a valuation of about $500 million (£390 million). The funding round was led by US venture capital firm Benchmark, according to media reports.
The startup is among a growing number of Chinese-founded technology firms that have relocated operations to Singapore, seeking to reduce exposure to geopolitical tensions between China and the United States. Analysts say the move has allowed companies like Manus to continue scaling internationally while maintaining access to global capital and markets.
For Meta, the deal signals an effort to stay competitive in an increasingly crowded AI landscape, where technology giants are racing to deploy more autonomous, decision-capable systems across digital services.
The Meta acquisition of Manus highlights how global technology firms are increasingly looking beyond domestic markets to secure advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. As competition intensifies among leading AI developers, the deal reflects Meta’s strategy to strengthen its position in autonomous AI systems while navigating geopolitical sensitivities through Singapore-based operations.
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