China’s National Development and Reform Commission has blocked Meta’s acquisition of Manus for approximately $2 billion, an AI agent startup that Meta announced it was acquiring at the end of December 2025. The regulator has asked both companies to withdraw from the deal.
A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that the transaction fully complied with applicable law and that the company hopes to find an appropriate resolution to the investigation.
Why Chinese regulators had jurisdiction
Manus is currently headquartered in Singapore, but was founded and operated in China. Chinese law gives regulators authority over the export or sale of technology created by companies with Chinese roots, and requires approval from Beijing for such transactions. This regulatory framework also required Chinese approval for ByteDance to handle TikTok’s US operations during the Trump administration.
In March, reports indicated that Manus’ two co-founders had been prevented from leaving China during regulatory review of the acquisition. Meta stated at the time that the Manus team had already been integrated into its operations and continued to run the Manus service.
What AI Agent Manus Startup Does
Manus is positioned as an autonomous AI agent that can plan, execute and complete multi-step tasks independently based on user instructions, without the need for repeated prompts during a workflow. Meta announced the acquisition to leverage Manus agents to enhance AI capabilities on its platforms.
Resolve the Meta/Manus agreement
The transaction withdrawal process is complicated by the level of integration that Meta outlined in March. Reversing that integration while Manus’ co-founders are reportedly still under exit restrictions in China adds more uncertainty to how the breakup will play out. Meta has not provided any measures to meet the regulator’s requirements.
This decision comes amid broader tensions between the United States and China over artificial intelligence technology. The White House stated last week that it would work more closely with American artificial intelligence companies to counter what it described as foreign efforts to replicate American artificial intelligence models, specifically mentioning Chinese entities. China’s US embassy disputed this characterization.
