Meta Buys AI Startup Manus for More Than $2 Billion

Meta Platforms has agreed to acquire AI startup Manus, a Singapore-based company with Chinese founders that conducts deep research and performs other tasks for paying users. Meta is closing the deal at more than $2 billion. Manus was seeking a fresh round of fundraising with a valuation of $2 billion when Meta approached the startup. Manus’s co-founder and chief executive, Xiao Hong, who often goes by the nickname “Red,” will report to Javier Olivan, chief operating officer of Meta. The acquisition is among the highest-profile examples of a major U.S. tech company buying an artificial-intelligence product developed in Asia’s AI and startup ecosystem.