AI startup Manus raises $500m after Meta acquisition blocked by China

AI startup Manus, whose acquisition by Meta was blocked by the Chinese government, said Thursday it had completed a funding round that raised more than $500 million.

It comes just weeks after the Chinese-developed, Singapore-based company said it had resumed independent operations after separating from the US tech giant. Manus is an agent tool that can carry out real-world tasks for users -- currently a hot sector in global tech, with AI labs racing to release personal assistants.

Butterfly Effect, the parent company of Manus, said in a statement that the funding round -- the first since its founders and investors bought back the firm from Meta -- was led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital. Existing investors including Tencent, HSG Capital and ZhenFund also participated, it said. The company did not disclose its latest valuation, but media reports have suggested it could be around $4 billion.

That would be double the $2 billion acquisition deal announced by Manus and Meta in December -- one of the biggest purchases in the Facebook owner's history. China's economic planning body said in April the deal must be unwound, a move analysts said signaled the country's desire for greater control over homegrown tech. At the time, Beijing also reportedly restricted overseas travel by two of Manus's co-founders.

Manus in September said it had resumed independent operations after unwinding the Meta acquisition.That month the company launched a major update to its AI agent tool, and a new standalone app called Cue. Similar to Meta's new personal agent tool Muse, which has sparked investor excitement as an opportunity to generate revenue beyond advertising, Cue allows users to create their own personal AI agents for tasks such as booking restaurants and making phone calls. Manus has also said it is forming teams to "develop products for the domestic market".

The two co-founders who were previously reportedly barred from leaving China were spotted at Manus's recent product launch event in Singapore last month.

Agence France-Presse