A high-profile acquisition could enable Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to offer built-in agents that do users’ bidding.
What’s new: Meta struck a deal to buy Manus AI, a Singapore-based startup that develops autonomous multi-agent systems, for between $2 and $3 billion dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported. The transaction is pending government approval.
How it works: Manus’ agent, which bears the company’s name, combines computer use, deep research, vibe coding, and a range of other autonomous capabilities. Meta will continue to serve Manus customers, who provide $125 million in annual revenue, but most of the startup's engineers and executives will meld the technology with Meta’s services. Meta said little about how it would integrate the technology.
- Meta will integrate Manus agents into its social-media platforms for consumers and enterprises, including its Meta AI chatbot/assistant.
- Manus CEO Xiao Hong will report directly to Meta Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan.
Behind the news: Manus’ first products debuted in March, offering computer-use agents based on Anthropic Claude, Alibaba Qwen, and other models.
- The company’s agents quickly became popular for their ability to perform tasks like building web apps, purchasing airline tickets, and analyzing stock trades. Over two million people joined Manus’ waitlist soon after the company opened it.
- Manus’ parent company, Butterfly Effect, was founded in 2022 in China. In 2024, the founders moved Manus to Singapore so it could use models that, like Claude, aren’t unavailable in China. Consequently, Manus’ agents aren’t available in China.
- In December, the company launched Manus 1.6, which added the ability to develop mobile apps and a visual user interface for design projects.
Yes, but: The acquisition awaits approval from authorities in China, who are investigating whether the deal violates regulations that govern trade and national security, Financial Times reported. China is claiming jurisdiction since Manus was founded in that country by Chinese nationals.
Why it matters: AI agents are an emerging front line of competition in AI, shifting the focus from models that generate media to models that take action. Acquiring Manus gives Meta instant access to market-tested agentic technology — a rapid response after Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, and Amazon launched consumer-focused agentic services and Amazon sued Perplexity to block its agentic Comet browser from purchasing autonomously on Amazon.com. The deal also reflects Meta’s persistent hunger for top AI talent, from engineers to executives, even after last year’s manic hiring spree.
We’re thinking: We’ve seen general-purpose agents trained to perform a wide range of tasks in various applications; agents incorporated into web browsers from Google, OpenAI, and Perplexity; and agents that help with purchases on specific platforms like Amazon. Integrated with Meta’s services, Manus adds general-purpose agents to social networking. This could open the door to social interactions that are very different from familiar mostly human-driven social media.