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China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on April 27 that it blocked Meta’s planned acquisition of Manus, an AI startup, for $2 billion, citing applicable laws governing foreign investment into Manus. The NDRC said the parties involved were asked to withdraw from the transaction.
CNBC reported that the Meta-Manus deal drew attention from both Beijing and Washington. The report noted that U.S. lawmakers have prohibited direct investment by American investors in Chinese AI companies, while Beijing has been seeking to prevent Chinese AI founders from moving their businesses overseas.
Manus, originally from China before moving to Singapore, developed versatile AI agents and launched its first product in March of last year. The product is described as being able to perform complex tasks including market research, programming, and data analysis.
Manus had been praised as a potential “next DeepSeek” after reporting annual recurring revenue exceeding $100 million in December last year, only eight months after its product launch. The company raised $75 million in a funding round led by Benchmark, a U.S. venture capital firm, in April of last year.
When Meta announced the Manus acquisition in late 2025, it said the deal would accelerate AI innovation for enterprise customers and integrate advanced automation into its consumer and business products, including the Meta AI assistant.
In January of this year, China’s Ministry of Commerce said it would assess and investigate whether the acquisition complies with laws related to export and import controls and outbound investment.
A Meta spokesperson said the Meta-Manus deal fully complies with current law and that the company expects an appropriate solution for the transaction.
When asked about China’s move to block the deal, Chen Xu, chair of the Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, said stakeholders should act in the common interest. He said he did not have the details of the case, but added that if the issue is handled properly, it could help support more substantive discussions within APEC.
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