Dec 30 (Reuters) – Meta said on Monday it would acquire Chinese-founded artificial intelligence startup Manus, as the tech giant accelerates its efforts to integrate advanced AI into its platforms.
Financial terms of the transaction were not released, but a source with direct knowledge of the matter said the deal values the Singapore-based company at between $2 billion and $3 billion.
Manus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Manus went viral earlier this year on
That led commentators to call it China’s next DeepSeek, and it was applauded by Chinese state television. Months later, the company moved its headquarters from China to Singapore, joining a wave of other Chinese companies that have done so to curb risks arising from tensions between the United States and China.
“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.
Manus, whose products are not available in China, claims that the performance of its AI agent surpasses that of OpenAI’s DeepResearch. It also has a strategic partnership with Alibaba to collaborate on its AI models.
Meta will operate and sell the Manus service and integrate it into its commercial and consumer products, including Meta AI, the company said.
“We see a natural fit in Meta’s rapidly growing SMB (small and medium-sized business) WhatsApp footprint, with extensions to CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s personal AI agent-rich vision,” said Barton Crockett, analyst at Rosenblatt Securities.
Tech giants like Meta have been increasing investments in AI through strategic acquisitions and talent hires as they navigate the industry’s fierce competition.
Earlier this year, the Facebook owner invested in Scale AI in a deal that valued the data labeling startup at $29 billion and hired its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang.
Manus, backed by its parent Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology, raised $75 million this year at a valuation of around $500 million, the source said, confirming earlier media reports. US venture firm Benchmark led the funding round.
Its investors also include HSG, formerly known as Sequoia Capital China, ZhenFund and internet giant Tencent Holdings, PitchBook data showed.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese and Arnav Mishra in Bengaluru and Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Mihika Sharma and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Xinghui Kok in Singapore; Editing by Miyoung Kim, Sam Holmes and Jan Harvey)