China Moves to Halt Meta's USD2B Acquisition of AI Agent Manus
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) stated it had decided to "prohibit foreign investment in the acquisition of the Manus project in accordance with laws and regulations," and required the parties involved to "withdraw the acquisition transaction."
Meta had announced the $2 billion acquisition in December, targeting Manus as a strategic addition to its rapidly expanding artificial intelligence portfolio.
The decision had been anticipated. In January, the Financial Times reported that Beijing had launched a formal review of the proposed sale. Last week, Bloomberg also reported that China was moving to bar domestic tech firms, including AI startups, from accepting US investment without prior government approval — a policy shift that cast a long shadow over the Meta-Manus deal.
Manus, originally founded in China before relocating to Singapore, burst onto the global AI scene in early 2025 when it unveiled its first general AI agent — a system capable of autonomously executing complex tasks including data analysis, coding, and market research. The platform drew immediate international attention and quickly became one of the most closely watched AI ventures to emerge from the Chinese tech ecosystem.
The blocking of the deal marks one of Beijing's most direct interventions yet against US acquisition of Chinese-origin AI assets, underscoring the intensifying technology rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
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