Meta—the parent company of Facebook—has announced that it is set to acquire Manus, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, as the U.S. technology firm intensifies efforts to deploy advanced AI capabilities across its suite of services.
The company, as well as other leading technology players, has increased investments in artificial intelligence in response to tough competition within the sector, such as the securing of a data-labeling company, Scale AI, earlier this year, worth a valuation of $29 billion.
Meanwhile, the financial details of the Manus transaction were not disclosed.
Based in Singapore, Manus has developed a general-purpose AI agent designed to serve as a digital employee, enabling it to autonomously perform tasks like research and automation with minimal prompting.
Meta intends to manage and market the Manus service, in addition to embedding the technology into its own consumer and enterprise offerings, including Meta AI.
Notably, Manus is among several Chinese technology companies that have recently set up headquarters in Singapore, seeking to mitigate operational risks linked to geopolitical tensions between China and the United States.
