Meta acquires intelligent agent firm Manus, capping year of aggressive AI moves

Meta Platforms announced on Tuesday the acquisition of Manus, a Singapore-based innovator in general-purpose AI agents, marking another significant step in the tech giant's extensive investment in artificial intelligence. Originally founded in China and later relocating to Singapore, Manus launched its first general AI agent earlier this year, capable of performing complex tasks such as market research, coding, and data analysis. The company has reported impressive financial performance, boasting an annualized average revenue exceeding $100 million within just eight months of its launch, with a revenue run rate surpassing $125 million. Meta expressed its intention to leverage this acquisition to enhance AI innovation for businesses and to integrate advanced automation features into its consumer and enterprise offerings, including the Meta AI assistant. "Manus is already addressing the daily needs of millions of users and businesses globally... We aim to expand this service to a far broader audience," Meta stated. Despite the acquisition, Manus will maintain its subscription service without disruption. Although specific financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, Manus originated from the Chinese start-up Butterfly Effect, also known as Monica.Im, before evolving into its own entity. Earlier this year, Manus gained attention for claiming its chatbot performance outshone that of OpenAI's DeepResearch. The firm raised $75 million in a Series B funding round led by U.S. venture capital firm Benchmark in April and is supported by industry giants such as Tencent and private equity firm HongShan Capital Group (HSG), previously known as Sequoia. In July, Manus reportedly laid off a significant portion of its Beijing staff as it shifted its headquarters to Singapore, focusing on global expansion. CEO Xiao Hong commented, "Joining Meta allows us to establish a stronger, more sustainable foundation while preserving the operational integrity of Manus and our decision-making processes." The firm also formed a strategic alliance with Alibaba's Qwen AI team in March, underscoring its connections with Chinese technology entities. This acquisition aligns with Meta's overarching AI strategy, which includes acquiring specialized AI start-ups to bolster its talent pool and expedite advancements in its AI initiatives, such as the development of the open-source Llama large language models. For instance, in June, Meta invested $14.3 billion in AI start-up Scale AI, incorporating its founder, Alexandr Wang, into Meta's AI leadership team. Earlier this month, Meta also acquired AI-wearables start-up Limitless, highlighting its ambition to expand its AI device portfolio. Manus's AI agent tools have attracted interest from key players in the tech sector. Notably, Microsoft began testing Manus integration into Windows 11 PCs in October, enabling users to create websites from local files. Manus claims to have processed over 147 trillion "tokens" of text and data while supporting more than 80 million virtual computers, with both free and paid subscription options available. Following the acquisition, Manus employees are set to join Meta's teams, as the company continues its aggressive recruitment of AI talent from start-ups and major competitors, including OpenAI and Google.