{"id":4112046,"date":"2025-12-30T04:16:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T09:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.computerworld.com\/article\/4112046\/meta-buys-high-profile-ai-startup-manus.html"},"modified":"2026-01-06T14:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:08:30","slug":"meta-buys-high-profile-ai-startup-manus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.computerworld.com\/article\/4112046\/meta-buys-high-profile-ai-startup-manus.html","title":{"rendered":"Meta buys high-profile AI startup Manus"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"remove_no_follow\">\n\t\t<div class=\"grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column\">\n\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"article-column__content\">\n<section class=\"wp-block-bigbite-multi-title\"><div class=\"container\"><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p>Meta is now buying the hyped AI startup Manus for about $2 billion, <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/12\/29\/meta-just-bought-manus-an-ai-startup-everyone-has-been-talking-about\/\">TechCrunch<\/a> reported. Founded in Singapore by former Chinese entrepreneurs, Manus gained widespread attention after a viral demo video showing an AI agent that could handle everything from job interviews to stock analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Manus also recently announced that it had reached over $100 million in recurring annual revenue, and had several million users. This is despite the service costing between $39 and $199 a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meta will let the company continue to operate independently but will integrate its AI agents into Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The deal has raised political questions in the US because of Manus&rsquo;s Chinese origins. Meta has assured that after the purchase, Manus will not have any Chinese owners or operations in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper youtube-video\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ransomware Guilty Pleas, Cheaper AI, Meta Deal | Ep. 31\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MSnzw1s3TnY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meta is now buying the hyped AI startup Manus for about $2 billion, TechCrunch reported. Founded in Singapore by former Chinese entrepreneurs, Manus gained widespread attention after a viral demo video showing an AI agent that could handle everything from job interviews to stock analysis. Manus also recently announced that it had reached over $100 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2869,"featured_media":100071999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"__idg_published_ids":[],"__idg_published_status":"draft","embargo_date":"","multi_title":"{\"titles\":{\"headline\":{\"value\":\"Meta buys high-profile AI startup Manus\",\"additional\":{\"short_title\":\"Meta buys high-profile AI startup Manus \",\"headline_subheadline\":\"Meta will allow Manus to operate independently, while its AI agents will be used in Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. \",\"headline_desc\":\"Meta will allow Manus to operate independently, while its AI agents will be used in Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. \"}},\"seo\":{\"value\":\"Meta buys high-profile AI startup Manus\",\"additional\":{\"seo_desc\":\"Meta will allow Manus to operate independently, while its AI agents will be used in Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. \"}},\"social\":{\"value\":\"Meta buys high-profile AI startup Manus\",\"additional\":{\"social_desc\":\"Meta will allow Manus to operate independently, while its AI agents will be used in Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. \"}}},\"subtitles\":[]}","old_id_in_onecms":"","_idg_updated_flag":false,"_idg_updated_date":"","hreflang_xdefault":0,"content_type":"News 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