Meta’s Purchase of AI Startup Manus Halted by China

The Chinese government has halted Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence (AI) startup Manus.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced Monday (April 27) that it would “prohibit foreign investment in the Manus project,” and required the companies to “withdraw the acquisition transaction.”

PYMNTS has contacted meta for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

The commission’s decision comes months after a report from CNBC that Chinese regulators were investigating the deal, with a focus on whether the acquisition is in keeping with the country’s export control laws.

Meta announced plans to acquire Singapore-based Manus late last year as part of a larger effort to bolster its AI offerings.

“Manus is already serving the daily needs of millions of users and businesses worldwide,” Meta said in its announcement. “It launched its first general AI agent earlier this year and has already served more than 147 trillion tokens and created more than 80 million virtual computers. We plan to scale this service to many more businesses.”

The deal marked one of the most high-profile examples of an American tech giant buying an AI startup with roots in Asia’s AI and startup spaces.

Manus gained the support of the Chinese government in March of 2025 after it introduced an AI agent that could produce detailed research reports and create custom websites, working with AI models from companies like Anthropic and China’s Alibaba.

Acquiring Manus would give Meta a “scaled, revenue-generating AI product with direct consumer payments,” PYMNTS wrote in a separate Dec. 30 report.

Although the tech giant has invested in AI infrastructure and promoted open-source models with its Llama family of models, monetization has been indirect, linked largely to advertising and engagement across social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

“By acquiring Manus, Meta gains technology and distribution, along with immediate exposure to subscription revenue and insight into consumer willingness to pay for AI-powered assistance,” the report added. “The transaction also shortens the timeline for rolling out premium AI offerings without having to build a paid user base from scratch.”

In related news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this month about the way Meta’s status as a social media platform gives it an edge over other players in the AI space, thanks to years of accumulated public user data.

“No other AI company holds that position,” that report said. “OpenAI knows what users have asked previously. Google knows what they search. Meta knows what they buy, who they follow and what they scroll past.”