China Halts Meta’s Bid to Acquire AI Firm Manus
China has officially blocked Meta’s planned acquisition of AI startup Manus, according to the country’s top economic planning authority on Monday. The decision follows a regulatory review that also reportedly included travel restrictions on two of the company’s co-founders. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, had reached an agreement in December to acquire Manus, an AI agent developed by a firm originally founded in China but now headquartered in Singapore. The deal had already faced skepticism from analysts, who warned it could run into regulatory obstacles amid intensifying tech competition between the United States and China. Last month, the Financial Times reported that Chinese authorities had barred two Manus co-founders from leaving the country, citing sources familiar with the matter. Chief executive Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao—both typically based in Singapore—were reportedly summoned to Beijing in March and informed they were prohibited from travelling abroad due to an ongoing review of the Meta deal. On Monday, China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced it would “prohibit foreign investment in the acquisition of the Manus project” and require all parties to withdraw from the…
