China has blocked Meta's $2bn (£1.5bn) acquisition of Manus, an AI agent developer, as part of a broader crackdown on US investments in domestic tech companies. The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced on Monday that it had cancelled the takeover, stating it would 'prohibit the foreign investment in the acquisition of the Manus project' and require the parties to withdraw the transaction.
The deal, announced by Meta in December, was intended to bring Manus's autonomous AI agent technology to its platforms. However, Chinese regulators have reportedly warned several private tech firms in recent weeks that they must seek explicit government approval before accepting US investment, a policy move triggered by the Manus deal. Bloomberg reported that Chinese regulators are planning to block tech firms from accepting US investment without approval.
Manus, which launched in Beijing but is now based in Singapore, had described the acquisition as 'validation of our pioneering work with general AI agents'. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said the transaction 'complied fully with applicable law' and that it anticipates 'an appropriate resolution to the inquiry'.
The move comes amid heightened US-China tech competition, with both countries vying for AI dominance. China rarely orders corporate deals to be unwound after completion, signalling increased regulatory scrutiny. The decision also precedes a planned mid-May summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Manus was hailed by Chinese state media as the next DeepSeek, a leading domestic AI startup, after releasing what it claimed was the world's first general AI agent. However, Manus does not produce its own AI model but operates an agent framework on top of existing Western large-language models.
