The Tamesis
U.S. tech giant Meta announced plans to acquire Manus, a Chinese-founded artificial intelligence startup dubbed the “next DeepSeek” earlier this year.
The news on Monday (US time) comes as Meta ramps up efforts to integrate advanced artificial intelligence into its platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook and more.
Financial terms of the company’s deal with Manus were not disclosed, but a source with direct knowledge of the matter said the deal values the Singapore-based company at between $2 billion and $3 billion.
See also: China hopes to solve problems of addiction and self-harm caused by artificial intelligence imitating humans
Meta said Manus would cut ties with China after the acquisition, Nikkei reported.
Therefore, China’s response to the acquisition may be interesting, given Beijing’s desire to enhance its technology and artificial intelligence capabilities.
Manus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The startup went viral on
This prompted critics to call it China’s next DeepSeek and was hailed by Chinese state television.
Months later, the company moved its headquarters from China to Singapore, joining other Chinese companies in efforts to contain risks posed by U.S.-China tensions.
Cooperate with Alibaba
The company’s products are not yet available in China, but it claims the performance of its artificial intelligence agents exceeds OpenAI’s DeepResearch. It has also established a strategic partnership with Alibaba to collaborate on artificial intelligence models.
Meta will operate and sell Manus services and integrate them into its consumer and commercial products, including Meta AI, the company said.
In order to cope with fierce industry competition, technology giants such as Meta have been increasing investment in artificial intelligence through strategic acquisitions and talent recruitment.
Earlier this year, the Facebook owner invested in Scale AI in a deal that valued the data labeling startup at $29 billion and hired 28-year-old CEO Alexandr Wang.
Manus, backed by its parent company Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology Co., raised $75 million this year at a valuation of about $500 million, sources said, confirming previous media reports. American venture capital firm Benchmark led this round of financing.
PitchBook data shows that its investors also include HSG (formerly Sequoia Capital China), Zhen Fund and Internet giant Tencent Holdings.
- Reuters Additional input and editing by Jim Pollard
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