Meta is acquiring artificial intelligence startup Manus, as the owner of Facebook continues its aggressive push across its platforms.
The California-based tech giant chose not to reveal the financial specifics of the acquisition. However, The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta finalized the deal for over $2 billion.
Manus, a Singapore-headquartered platform with some Chinese origins, introduced its first “general-purpose” AI agent earlier this year. The platform provides paid subscriptions for users to utilize this technology for research, coding, and other tasks.
“Manus is already meeting the daily requirements of millions of users and businesses globally,” Meta stated in a Monday announcement, adding that it plans to expand this service—with Manus set to “provide general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including within Meta AI.”
Xiao Hong, Manus’ CEO, further mentioned that joining Meta will enable the platform to “build upon a stronger, more sustainable foundation without altering Manus’ operations or decision-making processes.” Manus confirmed it will continue to sell and manage subscriptions via its own app and website.
The platform has experienced rapid growth over the past year. Earlier this month, Manus announced it had surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, just eight months after its launch.
Some of Manus’ initial financial backers included China’s , ZhenFund, and HSG. The company that first launched the platform—Butterfly Effect, which also operates under the name monica.im—was founded in China before relocating to Singapore.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that there would be “no ongoing Chinese ownership interests in Manus AI” following the transaction, and that the platform would also cease its services and operations in China. Manus reiterated it will continue operating in Singapore, where the majority of its employees are based.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been driving efforts to revitalize the company’s commercial AI initiatives amid stiff competition from rivals such as and OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. In June, the company made a in AI data firm Scale and hired its CEO Alexandr Wang to lead a team developing “superintelligence” at the tech giant.