Meta has agreed to acquire Manus, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence startup known for developing autonomous AI agents, as the company accelerates its efforts to embed advanced AI capabilities across its consumer and business platforms.

Financial terms were not officially disclosed. However, according to a source cited by Reuters, the deal values Manus at between $2 billion and $3 billion, aligning with reporting from TechCrunch that Meta was negotiating near the valuation Manus had reportedly sought for its next funding round.

Manus gained widespread attention early last year after releasing what it described as the world’s first general AI agent—software designed to make decisions and execute complex tasks autonomously with minimal prompting. In public demos, Manus showed its agent screening job candidates, planning vacations, and analyzing stock portfolios.

The company has claimed its system outperforms OpenAI’s Deep Research, a comparison that fueled early buzz and led commentators to label Manus “China’s next DeepSeek.” Chinese state television praised the company before it later relocated its headquarters from China to Singapore.

For Meta, Manus represents more than technical promise. According to TechCrunch, the startup reported millions of users and more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue from subscription services—making it one of the rare AI startups generating meaningful revenue at scale.

Meta said it plans to operate and sell Manus’ services, integrating the AI agents into its ecosystem, including Meta AI, as well as consumer and business products across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Analysts see particular alignment with WhatsApp’s rapidly expanding small- and medium-business footprint.

“We see a natural fit into Meta’s fast-growing WhatsApp SMB footprint, with extensions into CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s agentic-rich vision of personal AI,” said Barton Crockett, an analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, quoted by Reuters.

Meta has increasingly leaned on acquisitions and strategic investments to stay competitive in AI. Earlier this year, the company invested in Scale AI in a deal valuing the data-labeling firm at $29 billion, while bringing its CEO Alexandr Wang into Meta’s leadership circle.

Despite the strategic appeal, the acquisition is not without complications.

Manus was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs and is backed by its parent company, Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology, which was established in 2022. Although Manus’ products are not available in China, its origins are likely to draw scrutiny in Washington.

“Scrutiny is almost guaranteed; anything with Chinese roots and ‘AI’ in the headline now triggers Washington’s reflexes,” said Jeremy Goldman, senior director at Emarketer, in comments to Reuters.

That scrutiny is already taking shape. According to TechCrunch, U.S. Senator John Cornyn has previously criticized venture firm Benchmark for investing in Manus, citing concerns over American capital flowing to Chinese-linked technology companies.

Meta has moved to preempt those concerns. The company told Nikkei Asia that following the acquisition, Manus will cut all ties with Chinese investors and cease operations in China entirely.

“There will be no continuing Chinese ownership interests in Manus AI following the transaction, and Manus AI will discontinue its services and operations in China,” a Meta spokesperson said.

Earlier this year, Manus raised $75 million at a valuation of approximately $500 million, with Benchmark leading the round. Other investors include HSG (formerly Sequoia Capital China), ZhenFund, and Tencent, according to PitchBook data cited by Reuters.

Manus also maintains a strategic partnership with Alibaba to collaborate on AI model development.

Q: What does Manus actually build?
A: Manus develops autonomous AI agents—systems designed to plan, decide, and execute multi-step tasks independently, rather than simply responding to prompts like traditional chatbots.

Q: Why is Meta interested in Manus specifically?
A: Manus offers something Meta increasingly needs: AI agents that work in real-world scenarios and already generate revenue. This aligns with Meta’s strategy to embed AI deeply into messaging, commerce, and productivity tools.

Q: How will Meta use Manus’ technology?
A: Meta says it will integrate Manus’ AI agents into Meta AI, as well as into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, including business-facing tools for small and medium-sized companies.

Q: Why has Manus drawn political attention in the U.S.?
A: Although Manus operates out of Singapore, its founders established the company’s parent entity in Beijing. In today’s geopolitical climate, any AI company with Chinese origins faces heightened scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers.

Q: Has Meta addressed those concerns?
A: Yes. Meta has publicly stated that after the acquisition, Manus will have no remaining Chinese ownership interests and will fully exit China.

Q: How unusual is Manus’ financial performance for an AI startup?
A: Very. Many AI companies are still burning cash, while Manus reports millions of users and over $100 million in annual recurring revenue, making it stand out in a crowded field.

Q: What does this acquisition signal for the AI industry?
A: It suggests the market is shifting from AI experimentation to AI execution, where autonomous systems that produce measurable business value command premium valuations.

This acquisition matters because it signals that autonomous AI agents are moving from experimental tools to core business infrastructure.

For business leaders, Manus represents a shift away from AI that merely assists humans toward systems that actively carry out work—screening candidates, analyzing data, planning tasks, and operating across platforms with minimal oversight. That has direct implications for productivity, staffing models, and how companies think about automation at scale.

For Meta, the deal highlights a strategic pivot: instead of competing only on AI models, the company is prioritizing deployable, revenue-generating AI systems embedded inside products people already use every day. Integrating agents into WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook could reshape how small businesses interact with customers, manage operations, and grow without adding headcount.

More broadly, the transaction underscores how geopolitics now shapes AI adoption as much as performance does. Even as companies chase technical advantage, questions around ownership, national security, and regulatory trust increasingly determine which AI systems can scale globally.

In short, this isn’t just about Meta buying another AI startup. It’s about who gets to deploy autonomous intelligence at scale—and under what rules.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.