DETROIT — Meta buys artificial intelligence startup Manus, as Facebook and Instagram owner continues aggressive efforts to amplify AI offerings on all its platforms.
The California tech giant declined to disclose financial details of the acquisition. But the Wall Street Journal reported that Meta closed the deal for over $2 billion.
Manus, a Singapore-based platform with Chinese roots, launched its first “general purpose” AI agent earlier this year. The platform offers paid subscriptions allowing customers to use this technology for research, coding, and other tasks.
“Manus already meets the daily needs of millions of users and businesses around the world,” Meta said in a statement Monday, adding that it plans to expand the service as Manus “will provide general-purpose agents for our consumer and enterprise products, including in Meta AI.”
Xiao Hong, CEO of Manus, added that joining Meta will allow the platform to “build on a stronger and more sustainable foundation without changing how Manus operates or how decisions are made.” Manus confirmed that it will continue to sell and manage subscriptions through its own app and website.
The platform has grown rapidly over the past year. Earlier this month, Manus announced that it had crossed the $100 million mark in annual recurring revenue, just eight months after its launch.
Some of Manus’ early backers would have included Chinese companies Tencent Holdings, ZhenFund and HSG. And the company that first launched the platform – Butterfly Effect, which also operates under the name monica.im, was founded in China before moving to Singapore.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that there would be “no continued Chinese participation in Manus AI” following its transaction, and that the platform would also cease its services and operations in China. Manus reiterated that it would continue to operate in Singapore, where most of its employees are based.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is working to revive its AI business efforts as the company faces stiff competition from rivals such as Google and OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT. In June, the company completed a An investment of 14.3 billion dollars in AI data company Scale and recruited its CEO Alexandr Wang to help lead a team developing “superintelligence” at the tech giant.