Chinese officials are reviewing Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus for possible technology control violations, FT reported on Tuesday.
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Chinese officials are reviewingĀ Meta’sĀ $2 billion acquisition of artificial intelligenceĀ startupĀ ManusĀ for possible technology control violations, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Meta andĀ ManusĀ did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Chinese commerce ministry officials began assessing whether the relocation ofĀ Manus’ staff and technology to Singapore and the consequent sale to Meta required an export license under Chinese law, the report said.
While the review is in its preliminary stages and may not lead to a formal investigation, the need for a license could provide Beijing with an avenue to influence the transaction, including, in an extreme case, trying to force the parties to abandon the deal, the report added.
Meta acquiredĀ ManusĀ last month, when a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that theĀ dealĀ values the Singapore-based firm at between $2 billion and $3 billion.
ManusĀ went viral early this year on X after it released what it claimed was the world’s first generalĀ AIĀ agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously, with much less prompting required thanĀ AIĀ chatbots such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek.
