Meta acquires Asian AI startup Manus for $2B

Meta Platforms is buying Singapore-based AI startup Manus for over $2 billion, one of the biggest US tech acquisitions of an Asian-developed AI product.

Manus, founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, has drawn millions of users with its AI agent that can create research reports and build custom websites using AI models from companies like Anthropic and Alibaba.

Meta will keep Manus’s services running and integrate them into its social-media products. CEO Xiao Hong will report to Meta COO Javier Olivan.

The deal strengthens Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s AI push, as the company competes with Microsoft and Google in AI agents.

It comes after Meta built a top “superintelligence” team and invested in other startups, including a 49% stake in Scale AI, showing the company’s commitment to expanding its AI capabilities.