Beijing blocks Meta’s acquisition of Manus AI

Manus, often referred to by observers as the “next DeepSeek,” had attracted global attention thanks to record growth, surpassing $100 million in annual recurring revenues in just eight months after launching its first product. The company focuses on developing generalist AI agents capable of handling complex tasks such as market research, writing code and data analysis. Despite moving its headquarters to Singapore, a strategy known as “Singapore-washing” adopted to mitigate geopolitical pressures, Beijing has reaffirmed its authority over technologies originally born within its borders.

The Chinese government’s intervention represents an alarm signal for the entire technology sector and for venture capital funds who saw delocalization as a way out of the tensions between Washington and Beijing. While the United States has already imposed restrictions on American investors from directly supporting Chinese AI companies, China is stepping up efforts to prevent the leakage of expertise and patents abroad. Meta, which aimed to integrate Manus automations into its consumer and enterprise services, has so far maintained full legal compliance with the operation, but is now facing a regulatory wall that puts its entire expansion strategy in the intelligent agent sector at risk.