Pareesa Afreen 
Dec 30, 2025
An image of Manus AI logo is displayed on a smartphone screen. — Reuters
Mark Zuckerberg is back in the spotlight as Meta Platforms has officially agreed to acquire Manus, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence startup, in a deal reportedly valued at $2 billion.
While neither Meta nor Manus disclosed the financial terms, The Wall Street Journal reports that the acquisition price aligns with the $2 billion valuation Manus was reportedly seeking for its next funding round.
Manus has been a frequent topic of discussion in Silicon Valley since its debut last spring. With this deal, the fast-rising startup is now set to become part of Meta’s expanding AI ecosystem.
Meta bets on AI agents, not chatbots
The acquisition represents a strategic pivot in Meta's ambitions in AI: instead of investing in yet another conversational chatbot, Meta is betting on what Manus describes as an "AI agent", that is, a system designed to autonomously execute complex tasks.
Unlike classic chatbots, Manus is able to sift through job candidates, plan travel schedules, and analyse stock portfolios. The startup also mentioned that its technology outperforms OpenAI's Deep Research in certain use cases.
Notably for Meta, Manus is already bringing in cash: It announced over $100 million in annual recurring revenue recently and says it has attracted millions of users worldwide.
This profitability is especially important as investors increasingly raise concerns over Meta's reported spending of $60 billion on AI infrastructure. Manus represents a commercially viable product with currently active revenue, which would help answer many questions regarding returns on such aggressive AI investments by Meta.
Commenting on the purchase, Manus CEO Xiao Hong said: "The era of AI that doesn't just talk but acts, creates and delivers has only just begun."
Meta said Manus would remain independent, while its AI agents are integrated gradually across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, potentially exposing the technology to billions of users worldwide.
Despite its promise, the deal is not without controversy. Manus was founded in Beijing in 2022 by Chinese founders before relocating its headquarters to Singapore in mid-2025, a move that has drawn regulatory and political scrutiny in the United States.
US lawmakers have already raised concerns. Senator John Cornyn, a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, previously criticised venture capital firm Benchmark for leading a $75 million funding round in Manus earlier this year, warning against American investment in what he described as a potential “Chinese concern”.
In response, Meta has moved to distance the company from China. A Meta spokesperson told that Manus will discontinue all services and operations in China, adding that there will be no continuing Chinese ownership interests following the acquisition.
