- Meta acquired AI startup Manus in deal worth more than $2 billion
- Manus creates autonomous AI agents that perform complex tasks such as coding and data analysis
- Acquisition accelerates Meta’s shift from chatbot tools to task execution AI across its platforms
Meta has acquired AI startup Manus, known for its semi-autonomous AI agents, in a deal valued at more than $2 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. This is one of the largest AI acquisitions to date. More importantly, it underscores Meta’s plan to move from creating foundational models like Llama to providing full-service AI agents capable of completing complex tasks for individuals and businesses.
Meta said it plans to integrate the AI agent platform with its Meta AI assistant and enterprise offerings. Manus agents can perform complex analysis, research and long-term planning, as well as the more usual conversations and image generation. It can also access the web and perform tasks for users, hence its name Manus, which means hand in Latin.
“We will continue to operate and sell the Manus service, as well as integrate it into our products,” Meta said in a statement. “Manus already meets the daily needs of millions of users and businesses around the world. The company launched its first AI general agent earlier this year and has already served over 147,000 tokens and created over 80 million virtual computers. We plan to expand this service to many more businesses. »
The reported valuation corresponds to the direction Manus was heading before Meta’s intervention. The company had raised new funds at a valuation of $2 billion when Meta approached it with an offer. With revenue of over $125 million just eight months after its launch, Manus has proven not only its technical capabilities, but also its commercial appeal.
But it’s not just a high-value technological buyout. This marks a directional shift for Meta, one that deepens its commitment to creating AI that does more than chat. In fact, Manus wasn’t just another chatbot; it was one of the first widely available agentic systems capable of autonomously performing multi-step, goal-directed tasks using a mixture of reasoning, memory, and tool use. Users could, for example, give Manus a research objective or programming task and watch him coordinate an end-to-end solution. This is a radically different category of product than LLMs trained solely to predict the next word.
The future of AI agents
Meta wants to build an AI that acts. This is also why Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI earlier this year. But a functional, standalone AI platform is several steps beyond that. The company’s pricing model, a mix of free and premium subscriptions, has allowed it to grow quickly, particularly among developers, analysts and SMBs looking to automate workflows without hiring engineers.
And even though Meta has invested money in creating its own LLMs, developing effective agent behavior remains a very specific engineering and design challenge. Tools like planning, memory, tool use, and recursive reasoning can’t just be squeezed into one large model, and Manus has already solved many of these problems.
“Joining Meta allows us to build on a stronger, more sustainable foundation without changing how Manus operates or how decisions are made,” Xiao Hong, CEO of Manus, said in a statement. “We are excited about what the future holds with Meta and Manus working together, and we will continue to iterate the product and serve the users who have defined Manus from the beginning.”
Meta is racing to create AI agents amid fierce competition. Google’s Gemini is actively developing agentic features, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT has introduced tools for completing online tasks and providing more context-aware assistance. But Manus promises to make it easier to integrate its services into other platforms. This earned it the interest of companies like Microsoft, which tested the integration of Manus into Windows 11.
With Meta owning everything, what happens next is as much about strategy as it is technology.
Manus’ origins add a layer of complexity. Originally developed by Chinese AI startup Butterfly Effect before splitting up, concerns over data security likely contributed to its relocation from Beijing to Singapore this year and the layoff of most of its Chinese workforce. The Meta acquisition even comes with an explicit condition that “there will be no continued Chinese participation,” according to the companies.
Meta has had to walk a fine line in the global AI race by skirting regulatory scrutiny. Manus allows him to move forward with product development, but he’ll likely ask at least a few probing questions about who owns the data used to run Manus. In 2026, no major American tech company can afford to appear to have Chinese influence, just ask TikTok.
Then there is the material aspect. Meta’s Reality Labs division doesn’t make a lot of money, but Meta still sees a future of smart glasses and agentic AI assistants that interact with the physical world. Manus could provide the cognitive layer of these ambitions.
The acquisition clearly shows that Meta sees 2026 as the time when AI chatbots will become AI agents. With Manus powering its AI platforms, Meta plans to become the tool of first resort when it comes to interacting with AI in the real world.
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