HONG KONG (AP) — China on Monday blocked U.S. tech giant Meta’sacquisitionof the artificial intelligence startup Manus, in an unexpected move to reverse a deal that apparently aroused Beijing’s concerns about the transfer ofadvanced technology.
In a one-line statement, China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top planning agency, said it was prohibiting the foreign acquisition of Manus and had required all the parties to withdraw from the deal. It did not specifically name Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram.
Manus, which has Chinese roots but is based in Singapore, provides a general-purposeAI agentthat can autonomously carry out sophisticated tasks like coding an app, doing market research or preparing quarterly budgets.
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 said. It came after Chinese authorities said they were looking into the deal earlier this year.
The commission did not elaborate on the reasons for the ban. The announcement came less than a month before U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned visit to Beijing to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in May.
Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, on Monday said in a statement that the Trump administration “will continue defending America’s leading and innovative technology sector against undue foreign interference of any sort.”
Meta announced in December that it was acquiring Manus, in a rare case of a major U.S. tech group buying an AI company with strong links to China. Its deal with Manus was expected to help expand AI offerings across Meta’s platforms.
Meta had said there would be “no continuing Chinese ownership interests in Manus” and that Manus would discontinue its services and operations in China. But China said in January that it wouldinvestigatewhether the acquisition would be consistent with its laws and regulations.
China’s commerce ministry said at the time that any enterprises engaging in outward investment, technology exports, data transfers and cross-border acquisitions must comply with Chinese law. Meta had said most of Manus’ employees were based in Singapore.
Before the deal, Manus’ parent was Singapore-based Butterfly Effect Pte, but the AI startup traces its roots back to Beijing-registered entities with similar names that were established several years earlier.
Source: Fast Company
