America News Agency

Manus, which moved to Singapore after being founded in China, launched earlier this year its first general-purpose AI products capable of carrying out complex tasks such as market research, coding and data analysis.

In its statement, the company said it generated more than $100 million in annualized average revenue just eight months after launch, with revenue this year surpassing $125 million.

Meta said the acquisition aims to accelerate AI innovation for businesses and integrate advanced automation into its consumer and enterprise products, including Meta AI, adding: “Manus already serves the daily needs of millions of users and businesses worldwide... We plan to expand this service to many more businesses.”

While other terms of the deal were not disclosed, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people close to the acquisition, that the agreement was finalized for a sum exceeding $2 billion. The report added that the start-up, confronted with Meta’s offer, had been seeking a new fundraising round at a $2 billion valuation.

Manus began as a product of the Chinese start-up Butterfly Effect, also known as Monica.Im, before becoming a separate entity. Earlier this year, it emerged as a notable AI player after claiming its chatbot outperformed OpenAI’s Deep Research agent.

According to data from market research firm Tracxn, the company raised $75 million in a Series B round in April led by U.S. venture capital firm Benchmark, and is backed by Tencent and private equity firm HongShan Capital Group (HSG), formerly known as Sequoia.

The start-up reportedly moved its headquarters to Singapore in June as part of a global expansion push and laid off most of its Beijing staff in July. Manus CEO Xiao Hong said in the company’s press release: “Joining Meta enables us to build a stronger and more sustainable foundation without changing how Manus works or its decision-making process.”

The company also highlighted its existing ties with Chinese tech firms, announcing in March a strategic partnership with Alibaba’s Qwen AI team. Analysts say Meta’s acquisition of Manus fits its strategy of bringing specialized AI start-ups in-house to acquire talent and accelerate its broader AI business, including the development of open-source Llama large language models.

Meta also said Manus employees will join its teams as the company continues to aggressively poach AI talent from start-ups and major rivals, including OpenAI and Google.