Meta said on Monday it would acquireChinese-founded artificial intelligence startup Manus, as the technology giant accelerates efforts to integrate advanced AI across itsplatforms.
Financial terms of its transaction withManus were not released, but a source with direct knowledge of the mattersaid the deal values the Singapore-based firm at between $2 billion and $3 billion.
Manus did not immediately reply to arequest for comment.
Once hailed as China's next DeepSeek, Manuswent viral earlier this year on X by releasing what it claimed to be the world's first general AI agent,capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously, with much less promptingrequired than AI chatbots.
Beijing has since shown interest insupporting Manus, which claims performance of its AI agent surpasses that of OpenAI's DeepResearch. The company also has a strategic partnership with
Alibaba to collaborate on their AI models.
Meta will operate and sell the Manus service and integrate it into its consumer andbusiness products, including in Meta AI, the company said.
Tech giants such as Meta have been rampingup AI investments through strategic acquisitions and talent hires as they navigate fierce industry competition. Earlier this year, the Facebook-owner invested in Scale AI in a deal that valued the data-labeling startup at $29 billion and brought in its 28-year-oldCEO, Alexandr Wang.
Manus, backed by its parent Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology, raised $75 million this year at a valuation of around $500 million, according to mediareports. U.S. venture firm Benchmark led the funding round.
It is among a flurry of Chinese firms that have domiciled in Singapore inrecent years, betting a move to the trade-focused city-state would reduce risks their operations get disrupted by Sino-U.S. geopolitical tensions.