- Meta has acquired AI startup Manus in a deal worth more than $2 billion
- Manus builds autonomous AI agents that perform complex tasks like coding and data analysis
- The acquisition accelerates Meta’s shift from chatbot tools to AI for completing tasks across all of its platforms.
Meta has acquired AI startup Manus, known for its semi-autonomous AI agents, in a deal reportedly valued at more than $2 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. It is one of the largest AI acquisitions to date. More importantly, it underscores Meta’s plan to move from building foundational models like Llama to providing full-service AI agents capable of completing complex tasks for individuals and businesses.
Meta said it plans to make the AI agent platform part of its Meta AI enterprise and assistant offerings. Manus agents can perform complex analysis and long-term research and planning, along with more common conversations and imaging. It can also access the web and perform tasks for users, which is why it is called Manus, which is Latin for hand.
“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 serves the daily needs of millions of users and businesses around the world. It launched its first AI General Agent earlier this year and has already delivered over 147 trillion tokens and created over 80 million virtual computers. We plan to scale this service to many more businesses.”
The reported assessment aligns with where Manus was headed before Meta intervened. The company had been raising new funding at a valuation of $2 billion when Meta approached with an offer. With over $125 million in revenue just eight months after launch, Manus had demonstrated not only its technical capabilities but also its commercial appeal.
But this is not just the story of a high-value technology purchase. It marks a directional turn for Meta, one that deepens its commitment to building AI that does more than chat. In fact, Manus was not just another chatbot; It was one of the first widely available agent systems, capable of autonomously performing goal-oriented, multi-step tasks using a combination of reasoning, memory, and tool use. Users could, for example, hand Manus a research objective or programming task and watch him coordinate a solution from end to end. That’s a radically different product category than LLMs trained solely to predict the next word.
The future of the AI agent
Meta wants to build an AI that acts. That’s also why Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI earlier this year. But a functioning autonomous AI platform is several steps further away. The company’s pricing model, a mix of free and premium subscriptions, helped it grow quickly, especially among developers, analysts and SMEs looking to automate workflows without hiring engineers.
And while Meta has been pouring money into 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 simply be thrown into a 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 works or how decisions are made,” Manus CEO Xiao Hong 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 develop AI agents amid fierce competition. Google’s Gemini is actively developing agency features, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT has introduced tools to perform online tasks and provide more context-sensitive assistance. But Manus promises to make it easier to integrate its services into other platforms. That earned the interest of companies like Microsoft, which tested the integration of Manus in Windows 11.
Since Meta owns everything, what happens next is as much a matter of strategy as it is a matter of technology.
Manus’ origins add a layer of complexity. Initially developed under Chinese AI startup Butterfly Effect before spinning off, concerns over data security likely contributed to its move from Beijing to Singapore this year and the layoffs of most of its Chinese workforce. The acquisition of Meta even comes with the explicit condition that “there will be no continuing Chinese ownership interests,” according to the companies.
Meta has had to walk a fine line in the global AI race by evading regulatory scrutiny. Manus allows you to move forward in product development, but will likely bring at least some probing questions about who owns the data used to run Manus. In 2026, no major American tech company can afford to look like it has Chinese influence, just ask TikTok.
Then there’s the hardware angle. Meta’s Reality Labs division doesn’t generate much cash, but Meta still sees a future of smart glasses and agent AI assistants that interact with the physical world. Manus could provide the cognitive layer for those ambitions.
The acquisition makes it clear that Meta sees 2026 as the time when AI chatbots will become AI agents. With Manus powering its AI platforms, Meta plans to be the tool of first resort when it comes to AI interacting with the real world.
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