According to Fortune, Meta is acquiring the artificial intelligence startup Manus in a deal The Wall Street Journal reports is valued at over $2 billion. The Singapore-based company, which launched its first general-purpose AI agent earlier this year, has already hit over $100 million in annual recurring revenue just eight months after launching and serves millions of users. Meta announced the deal on Monday, stating Manus will help deliver AI agents across its consumer and business products like Meta AI. Manus CEO Xiao Hong confirmed the platform will keep operating its own app and website. Crucially, a Meta spokesperson confirmed that following the transaction, there will be “no continuing Chinese ownership interests” and that Manus will discontinue its services in China, though it will keep its base in Singapore.
Meta’s AI Arms Race Heats Up
Look, this is a massive, aggressive bet by Zuckerberg. He’s not just tinkering with chatbots; he’s buying an entire, rapidly scaling platform with a proven user base and revenue stream. Manus isn’t some research project—it’s a commercial product people are already paying for. This acquisition screams that Meta is done playing catch-up and is now in full-on “acquire and integrate” mode to compete with OpenAI and Google. And honestly, it’s a smart shortcut. Why spend years building an agent ecosystem from scratch when you can buy one that’s already working?
The China Factor and Inevitable Scrutiny
Here’s the thing that Meta was very quick to address: Manus’s Chinese roots. The company confirmed the deal severs all Chinese ownership interests and that Manus will stop operating in China. That’s not a coincidence. Given the intense geopolitical tensions around tech and AI, especially between the U.S. and China, Meta had to preempt any national security concerns. It’s a necessary but complex bit of corporate surgery. They get the tech and the team, but they’re surgically removing the geopolitical liability. You have to wonder how much of that $2 billion+ price tag was for the technology, and how much was for the clean, uncontested ownership structure.
Zuckerberg’s Superintelligence Gambit
This isn’t a one-off purchase. It’s part of a clear pattern. Remember, just in June, Meta made a $14.3 billion investment in AI data company Scale AI and recruited its CEO. Zuckerberg is openly chasing “superintelligence.” So what’s the play? Basically, he’s assembling an Avengers team for AI. Scale handles the massive data infrastructure and labeling, and now Manus brings the consumer-facing agent technology. Meta provides the unparalleled distribution to billions of users on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. That’s a terrifyingly powerful combo for rivals. The race isn’t just about who has the best model anymore; it’s about who can build the most complete, vertically integrated stack.
What Happens to Manus Now?
The official line is that nothing changes for Manus users, and it will keep its own app. I’m skeptical that lasts long-term. Sure, for now, it’s business as usual—they don’t want to spurn that $100M+ revenue stream. But Meta didn’t pay $2 billion to run a separate subscription service forever. The real value is baking Manus’s agent smarts directly into every Meta product. Imagine an AI assistant in Instagram that can plan your trip, or one in WhatsApp that can code a website for your small business. That’s the endgame. The standalone Manus app might stick around as a pro-tier offering, but its brain will soon be everywhere in Meta’s universe. The AI agent race just got a lot more interesting, and a lot more expensive.
