Meta has agreed to acquire Manus, a Chinese-founded artificial intelligence startup, as the Facebook parent company deepens its push into advanced AI systems and autonomous agents.
The financial terms of the deal were not officially disclosed, but a source familiar with the transaction told Reuters the acquisition values the Singapore-based company at between $2 billion and $3 billion.
Manus gained global attention earlier this year after releasing what it described as the world’s first general AI agent — software capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously with minimal user prompting, going beyond the capabilities of traditional AI chatbots.
The startup was initially hailed by some observers as China’s answer to DeepSeek, and its rapid rise reportedly attracted interest from Beijing, which has been keen to support domestic AI champions amid growing global competition in the sector.
Manus claims its AI agent outperforms OpenAI’s DeepResearch in certain benchmarks, although these claims have not been independently verified. The company also maintains a strategic partnership with Alibaba, collaborating on the development and deployment of AI models.
Under the agreement, Meta said it plans to operate and commercialise the Manus platform, integrating the technology across its consumer and enterprise products, including Meta AI. The move signals Meta’s ambition to shift from AI assistants toward more autonomous systems that can perform complex, multi-step tasks for users.
The acquisition comes as Meta and other global tech giants accelerate AI investments through acquisitions and high-profile talent hires. Earlier this year, Meta invested in Scale AI in a deal that valued the data-labeling firm at $29 billion and brought its CEO, Alexandr Wang, into Meta’s leadership orbit.
Manus is backed by its parent company, Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology, and raised $75 million earlier this year at a reported valuation of about $500 million. The funding round was led by U.S. venture capital firm Benchmark.
Like several Chinese technology firms in recent years, Manus is headquartered in Singapore, a move seen as a strategy to reduce exposure to escalating U.S.–China geopolitical tensions while maintaining global market access.
The deal underscores how competition in advanced AI is increasingly global, with U.S. tech firms looking beyond Silicon Valley to acquire breakthrough technologies wherever they emerge.
