Synopsis
China's top economic planner has blocked Meta's acquisition of AI startup Manus, citing a prohibition on foreign investment in the project. The National Development and Reform Commission has ordered the parties involved to withdraw the transaction, following earlier reports of travel restrictions on two cofounders.Listen to this article in summarized format
The decision by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) highlights Beijing's commitment to stop AI talent and intellectual property from being acquired by U.S. entities, as Washington tries to hamper its AI development with export controls designed to cut off access to U.S. chips.
It could also add another thorny issue to the agenda of a planned mid-May Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
California-based Meta, which owns Facebook, acquired Manus in December for more than $2 billion in a bid to boost its capabilities in AI agents, tools that can execute more complex tasks than chatbots with minimal human intervention.
But in March, Manus CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao were barred from leaving China as regulators reviewed the deal, sources familiar with the matter said.
Manus was hailed early last year by state media and commentators as China's next DeepSeek after releasing what it said was the world's first general AI agent.
Months later Manus moved its headquarters from China to Singapore, joining a wave of other Chinese companies that have done so to curb risks from the U.S.-China tensions.
Alfredo Montufar-Helu, a managing director at Ankura China Advisors, said Beijing’s intervention reflects how AI has become central to strategic competition between the world’s two largest economies, with controls that were once focused on semiconductors now extending into AI.
“China is saying we will prevent foreign acquisition of assets we consider important for national security — and AI is now clearly one of them,” he said, adding that the move also signals to firms that relocating overseas will not shield them from scrutiny.
