China blocks acquisition of Artificial Intelligence company "Manus" from Meta

China blocked theacquisition della startup di artificial intelligence Manus da parte di Meta.

Il Financial Timesreported last month that theChinahad prevented two of the co-founders fromManusto leave the country, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

Manus co-founders stranded in China

The CEOXiao Hongand the scientific directorJi Yichaowho usually reside inSingaporethey would have been summoned toBeijingin March and informed that they would not be able to leave theChina a causa di una regulatory reviewon the acquisition byMeta.

The ban by the Chinese commission

La National Development and Reform Commission in Beijingsaid in a statement that it would “ban theforeign investmentsin project acquisitionManus” and “will require the parties involved to withdraw theacquisition transaction“, without mentioning Meta.

Per Meta“the transaction was fully compliant with applicable law.”

The value of the acquisition and Meta’s objectives

The analysts ofBloomberg Intelligencethey stated that the acquisition was likely aimed at expanding the capabilities ofMetain the context of activities related toIAand that its value could exceed2 billion dollars.

The capabilities of the Manus startup

Manuscreated bystartup Butterfly Effectis able to analyze and summarizethe course of life o creare un website per l’stock analysis.

Chinese strategy and technological separation

According to analysts, this move was not a surprise, given that theChinahe always aspired to a majorcontrol over your technology.

“This is the last step in thistrajectory of restrictions“he declaredChong Ja Ianassociate professor of political science at theNational University of Singapore.

La China e gli United States“they are always looking for more thanseparate their technological infrastructures“, he added, explaining that places likeSingaporethey will be less and less able to “protect companies from such scrutiny”.