Meta claims ‘no continuing Chinese ownership interests in Manus AI’ after reported $2 billion deal to shore up in AI agent race

Meta is buying artificial intelligence startup Manus, as the owner of Facebook and Instagram continues an aggressive push to amp up AI offerings across its platforms.

The California tech giant declined to disclose financial details of the acquisition. But The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta closed the deal at more than $2 billion.

Manus, a Singapore-based platform with some Chinese roots, launched its first “general-purpose” AI agent earlier this year. The platform offers paid subscriptions for customers to use this technology for research, coding and other tasks.

“Manus is already serving the daily needs of millions of users and businesses worldwide,” Meta said in a Monday announcement, adding that it plans to scale this service — as Manus will “deliver general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including in Meta AI.”

Xiao Hong, CEO of Manus, added that joining Meta will allow the platform to ...