China blocks Meta’s acquisition of AI start-up Manus

China's state planner has blocked tech giant Meta from acquiring Chinese agentic AI start-up Manus. 

The National Development and Reform Commission of China reportedly said in a statement that it was prohibiting the foreign acquisition of Manus and had required all parties to withdraw from the deal. 

The decision was made by the commission's Office of the Working Mechanism for Security Review of Foreign Investment in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations, the statement added. 

When MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out, Meta said that the transaction "complied fully with applicable law."

"We anticipate an appropriate resolution to the inquiry," Meta added. 

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The block comes less than a month before US President Donald Trump's planned visit to Beijing in May. Additionally, the move emphasises China's commitment to stop AI talent and intellectual property from being acquired by US companies, reported CNBC. The block could also be in response to the US' export controls designed to cut off China's access to US chips. 

Meta, which owns Facebook, first acquired Manus in December for more than US$2 billion. However, in March, Manus CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao were not allowed to leave China as regulators reviewed the deal. 

Since the acquisition, Manus employees have joined Meta and its expanding AI team, and have moved into Meta offices in Singapore, reported The Straits Times. Meanwhile, capital has been transferred and exiting investors such as Tencent Holdings, ZhenFund and Hongshan have received their proceeds. 

It is unclear how Meta would unwind the deal. 

In July last year, Manus relocated its headquarters to Singapore, just four months after its global debut in March. Its acquisition by Meta in December was a strategic effort in accelerating AI innovation and integrating advanced automation into Meta's consumer and enterprise products, including Meta AI. 

The acquisition was later followed by the tech giant's Moltbook buy, the social media platform for artificial intelligence agents. 

The acquisition will see the Moltbook team join Meta Superintelligence Labs. Superintelligence Labs is a new division that houses all of the tech giant's AI teams and initiatives. 

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