Beijing cancels Meta's acquisition of Chinese AI company Manus
China’s State Planning Commission on Monday issued a decision to cancel the acquisition of Chinese artificial intelligence startup Manos by US tech giant Meta , amid escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington over leadership in advanced industries. The decision by China’s National Development and Reform Commission highlights Beijing’s commitment to preventing US companies from acquiring AI expertise and intellectual property, at a time when Washington is seeking to hinder AI development by imposing export restrictions aimed at cutting off access to US chips. This could also add another complicated issue to the agenda of a summit scheduled for mid-May in Beijing between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, according to Reuters. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, acquired Manus in December for more than $2 billion, in an effort to bolster its capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence agents, which are tools capable of performing more complex tasks than chatbots with minimal human intervention. But in March, Manus CEO Xiao Hong and its chief scientist, Ji Yichao, were barred from leaving China while regulators reviewed the deal, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Official media and commentators praised Manus early last year, calling it the new "deep sec" of China, after it launched what it described as the world's first general artificial intelligence agent. Months later, Manus moved its headquarters from China to Singapore, joining a wave of other Chinese companies that took the same step to reduce risks stemming from tensions between the United States and China. Alfredo Montovar-Hillo, managing director at Ancora China Advisors, said Beijing's intervention reflects how artificial intelligence has become a key focus of strategic competition between the world's two largest economies, with controls that were previously concentrated on semiconductors now extending to AI. He added: "China says it will block foreign acquisitions of assets it deems important to national security - and artificial intelligence is now clearly one of them," noting that the move also sends a signal to companies that moving overseas will not protect them from scrutiny.
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