China has ordered Meta to cancel its acquisition of the AI startup Manus
Chinese regulators have ordered Meta to cancel a $2 billion deal to acquire Manus, a startup that develops general-purpose artificial intelligence agents. Once the process of separating from Meta is complete, Manus plans to resume operations as an independent company in the near future, according to CNBC.
Meta announced the acquisition of Manus in December 2025. The startup was founded in China in 2022 and later relocated to Singapore. The deal drew the attention of authorities in both China and the U.S. Chinese officials investigated whether it violated the country’s rules on foreign investment.
In April, China’s National Development and Reform Commission ruled to revoke the deal, triggering a complex process to cancel it. Since then, Beijing has tightened technology export controls on cross-border deals amid competition between the U.S. and China for talent, equipment, and data in the field of artificial intelligence.
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Manus announced that some users need to back up data generated on or after December 29, 2025—the day the deal with Meta was announced. The company explained that this is part of its separation from Meta and is necessary to comply with regulatory requirements in certain parts of the world.
Meta had planned to use Manus’s technology in products for consumers and corporate clients. The company aims to develop a subscription-based business centered on AI and compete with Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI. Last week, Meta released its first programming agent.
