Manus to resume independent operations after China blocks Meta’s $2B acquisition

Manus, the Singapore-based AI startup that briefly looked like it would become Meta’s next big bet, is going back to life on its own. The company announced on August 11 that it will resume independent operations after Chinese regulators killed its sale to Mark Zuckerberg’s empire. The deal was worth roughly $2B. It lasted about four months before Beijing said no. How the deal fell apart Meta and Manus first announced the acquisition on December 29, 2025, a move that would have given Meta a significant foothold in the AI agent space. Then came April 27, 2026. China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the NDRC, stepped in and blocked the transaction outright. The regulator didn’t just raise concerns or ask for concessions. It instructed both parties to withdraw from the deal entirely. The reasoning tracks with a broader pattern. Manus has roots in China, and Beijing cited concerns over technology transfer in the context of rising US-China tensions in tech industries. By May 2026, Manus had completed its operational separation from Meta. All data sharing between the two companies was halted. But the cleanup isn’t over for users. Manus has notified its customer base that any ...