SHENZHEN – China has blocked the sale of artificial intelligence start-up Manus to American tech giant Meta, months after it announced an investigation into the deal involving the Chinese-founded firm now based in Singapore.
Regulators in Beijing have decided to ban foreign investment in Manus “in accordance with laws and regulations”, and asked parties involved to “cancel the acquisition transaction”, said a statement posted on April 27 on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency.
Asked to comment on Beijing’s announcement, a Meta spokesperson said the transaction “complied fully with applicable law”, and that “we anticipate an appropriate resolution to the inquiry”.
Manus did not immediately respond to The Straits Times’ request for comment.
Manus makes AI agents that can do complex tasks like make apps and websites with limited human oversight, distinct from chatbots that typically need more human prompting. The company has roots in China, where its products were first developed.
Its journey – and deal with Meta – has become a test case of sorts for Chinese companies seeking American capital as geopolitical rivalry between the US and China sharpens, and the two major powers fiercely guard sensitive tech sectors such as AI.
After receiving in April 2025 an investment from a US venture firm that raised eyebrows in Washington, Manus moved its headquarters from China to Singapore, reportedly relocating its core team while shedding China-based staff.
The firm later got acquired by Meta in a deal announced in December 2025 that was reportedly worth more than US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion).
But the acquisition stoked worries in Beijing that promising Chinese tech firms would follow Manus’ path out of the country, draining the best of Chinese AI technology and funnelling it to the US.
The Chinese government moved quickly to announce in January that it was reviewing whether the Manus deal complied with China’s rules, including on export controls and foreign investment.
Manus’ Singapore-based co-founders Xiao Hong and Ji Yichao were summoned to Beijing in March and not allowed to leave the country, the Financial Times reported.
In part to circumvent growing US restrictions on Chinese access to American funds and technology, Chinese companies have been moving to countries like Singapore in the hope that a neutral identity will give them more room to tap deep-pocketed foreign investors and expand abroad. But they are also learning that there are limits to this cover.
The decision to block the Manus deal was delivered by an NDRC unit responsible for the security review of foreign investments.
“The Manus case likely marks the beginning – not the end – of Beijing’s moves” to regulate the outflow of prominent tech companies, said Ms Guo Shan, a partner at Shanghai-based consultancy Hutong Research.
Going forward, she expects Beijing to set clearer rules upfront on what firms can and cannot do, instead of intervening after the fact, as was the case with Manus.
According to a Bloomberg report on April 24, Chinese regulators plan to restrict tech firms from accepting American capital without government approval, and have instructed AI firms such as Moonshot AI and StepFun not to do so.
Mr Shen Meng, a director at Beijing-based boutique investment bank Chanson & Co, believes that if Beijing had not moved firmly to halt the Manus acquisition, it risked sending the wrong signal about regulators’ acceptance of such moves.
“The Chinese government will likely continue to adopt or even intensify a tough stance, to prevent domestic AI companies from breaking free of its control,” he said.
