Meta has acquired Singapore-based AI startup Manus, which has recently been making waves in Silicon Valley, for $2 billion. With this acquisition, Meta has taken an important and concrete step towards commercializing its investments in the field of AI.
Manus, which attracted attention with the demo video it released about 9 months ago, is working on AI agents that can perform a wide range of tasks, from managing job interviews to preparing travel plans. The company claims that its agents produce more successful results than OpenAI's "Deep Research" models.
Just a few weeks after the demo video was released, the startup, which received $75 million in investment led by Benchmark, quickly reached $500 million in value. It is also known that leading Chinese investment funds such as Tencent, ZhenFund and HSG (formerly Sequoia China) participated in the first $10 million investment round of Manus.
Having achieved great success in a short period of time, Manus currently generates annual recurring revenue of more than $100 million and serves millions of users. In this regard, the acquisition of the company is considered an unexpected step for many.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Manus team was preparing for a new investment round worth over $2 billion. Negotiations were underway for Meta to join this investment round, which was expected to raise the startup to “unicorn” status. However, as a result of the rapid change in the process, Meta decided not to be satisfied with just being an investor and decided to buy the entire company.
After the acquisition, Manus will continue to operate independently within Meta. In the future, the startup is planned to integrate with Meta AI and reach millions of users through platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Manus’s Chinese connections may pose a risk
As noted, influential Chinese institutions are among the first investors of Manus. Against the backdrop of the technology competition between the US and China, which has intensified in recent months, this acquisition of Meta has caused serious discussions.
The founders of Manus founded a Beijing-based company called Butterfly Effect in 2022 and suddenly moved to Singapore in mid-2025. This move was previously raised in the US Congress. In a statement in May, US Senator John Cornyn strongly criticized Benchmark's investment in Manus.
It is not excluded that Meta could find itself at the center of a new political controversy after Cornyn's statements, which questioned the direction of American capital in Chinese-related companies. The company, which has experienced serious difficulties due to political pressure in the past, told Nikkei Asia that Manus would cease its activities in China. At the same time, it was announced that the startup would sever all ties with Chinese investors.
