Meta announced on Monday that it would acquire Manus, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence startup that has gained significant attention since its launch earlier this year, according to Reuters.
According to the Wall Street Journal, as reported by TechCrunch, Meta is paying $2 billion for the acquisition—matching the valuation Manus was reportedly seeking for its next funding round. However, Reuters cited a source with direct knowledge of the matter stating the deal values the company at between $2 billion and $3 billion. Meta did not release official financial terms.
Manus gained prominence after releasing what it claimed was “the world’s first general AI agent,” capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously with less prompting than chatbots like ChatGPT, according to Reuters. According to TechCrunch, a demo video showed the AI agent performing tasks like screening job candidates, planning vacations, and analyzing stock portfolios, with Manus claiming at the time that it outperformed OpenAI’s Deep Research.
The startup raised $75 million in April, just weeks after launch, in a funding round led by Benchmark that valued the company at $500 million post-money, both sources reported. According to TechCrunch, citing Chinese media outlets, earlier investors included Tencent, ZhenFund, and HSG (formerly Sequoia China).
In mid-December, Manus announced it has signed up millions of users and is generating more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue from its membership service, according to TechCrunch.
According to Reuters, Manus was founded in Beijing in 2022 before relocating its headquarters to Singapore, joining other Chinese companies seeking to mitigate risks from U.S.-China tensions. Meta stated it will integrate Manus into its products, including Meta AI, according to Reuters, while TechCrunch reported that Meta will keep Manus running independently and integrate its AI agents into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.