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It
is a rare acquisition by a U.S. tech group of an AI company with
Chinese roots, at a time of heightened frictions between
Washington and Beijing.
On Thursday, China’s Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong
told reporters that it would work with relevant departments to
assess and investigate whether Meta’s acquisition of Manus is
consistent with Chinese laws and regulations.
Any enterprises engaging in outward investment, technology
export, data transfer and cross-border mergers and acquisitions
must comply with Chinese laws, He said.
Meta and Manus did not immediately reply to requests for
comment.
“Security has become the top concern for Chinese policymakers,”
said Gary Ng, a senior economist for Asia Pacific at investment
bank Natixis. “Any tech transfer that could give the U.S. an
edge in competitiveness will be heavily scrutinized.”
While the company behind Manus is Singapore-based Butterfly
Effect Pte, its roots can be traced back to Beijing-registered
entities which were founded in China a few years ago.
Meta said last week there would be “no continuing Chinese
ownership interests in Manus AI” following the acquisition, and
that Manus would discontinue its services and operations in
China. Meta’s platforms including Facebook and Instagram are
still banned in China under the country’s “Great Firewall”.
Manus said it would continue to operate in Singapore, where most
of its employees are now based.
Cui Fan, a professor at the University of International Business
and Economics in Beijing, raised questions in a public post on
the Chinese social media site WeChat over the acquisition’s
compliance with Chinese laws and technology export controls.
“A key question is whether any technologies prohibited or
restricted from export under Chinese laws and regulations are
exported without a license,” he wrote.
The “general-purpose” AI agent released by Manus last year can
autonomously perform multi-step complex work such as breaking
down tasks into smaller steps. It can be used for free but also
offers paid subscription packages.
Last month, Manus said its annual recurring revenue had reached
more than $100 million.
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Associated Press researcher Shihuan Chen in Beijing contributed
to this report.
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