📰 AI News: Meta Buys Manus, The Viral AI Agent Startup

📝 TL;DR

Meta just bought Manus, the viral AI agent that has been quietly impressing Silicon Valley with jaw dropping demos and real revenue. This is Meta placing a huge bet on autonomous AI agents that actually get work done, not just chat.

🧠 Overview

Meta is acquiring Manus, a Singapore based AI startup that exploded this year with a demo of an AI agent that screens job candidates, plans trips, and analyzes stock portfolios with very little prompting. The deal is reportedly worth around 2 billion dollars, after Manus raced from launch to millions of paying users and over 100 million dollars in annual recurring revenue.

For everyday users and small businesses, this is a strong signal that AI agents that take actions for you are moving from niche tools into the mainstream apps you already use like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.

📜 The Announcement

At the end of December 2025, Meta confirmed it is acquiring Manus, an AI startup that has become one of the most talked about agent tools of the year. Manus only launched in the spring, then quickly raised 75 million dollars, went viral with its demo video, and turned that attention into a subscription business with millions of users.

Reports say Meta is paying roughly 2 billion dollars for the company, and plans to keep Manus running independently while weaving its agent technology into Meta AI across its social apps. In the background, regulators are already watching the deal because Manus was originally founded in China before moving its headquarters to Singapore.

⚙️ How It Works

• From chatbot to agent - Manus is built as a general AI agent, you give it a goal like research these companies or build me a hiring funnel, and it plans and executes multiple steps instead of just replying with text.

• Real tasks, not just answers - The demos showed Manus screening job candidates, planning vacations, and analyzing stock portfolios, connecting to tools and data to actually do the work rather than only suggesting what you could do.

• Subscription first model - Manus sells memberships to individuals and teams, which is how it reached millions of paying users and nine figure recurring revenue so quickly.

• Meta integration plan - Meta says it will keep the Manus product alive while gradually bringing its agent skills into Meta AI inside WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, so you can delegate tasks from the apps you already live in.

• Independence with guardrails - Manus will operate as an independent group within Meta, but with new constraints, including cutting remaining ties to Chinese investors and shutting down its China operations.

💡 Why This Matters

• Agents are going mainstream - When a giant like Meta spends billions on an agent company with real users and revenue, it is a sign that task focused AI agents are not a side quest, they are the next big product wave.

• Proof that useful beats flashy - Manus did not win because of hype alone, it won because it could handle boring but valuable work like screening applicants and doing deep research, that is exactly where most professionals feel the pain.

• Big tech wants owned AI, not just rented - Meta does not want to rely only on external models, it wants proprietary agent technology it can control, tune, and deeply embed into its ecosystem.

• Regulation will shape AI deals - Because Manus has Chinese roots, this acquisition sits right at the intersection of AI, geopolitics, and security, so expect more scrutiny on who owns powerful AI agents.

• Signals for the rest of the market - A two billion dollar outcome for a young agent startup tells founders and investors that agents with clear revenue and retention can still command big outcomes, even as AI funding gets more selective.

🏢 What This Means for Businesses

• Start thinking in agents, not just prompts - This is a good time to ask, where in my business could an AI agent own a multi step workflow, instead of me or my team manually nudging a chatbot over and over.

• Expect AI inside the apps you already use - If your customers or clients live on WhatsApp, Instagram, or Facebook, you should assume that agent features will become native there, from automated research to follow up and simple operations.

• Look for real workflows to automate - Manus won by focusing on tasks like hiring, research, and planning, you can mirror that by mapping your own processes and asking, which of these could an agent reasonably own with human oversight.

• Do not wait for Meta to do it for you - While Meta builds this into its ecosystem, you can already experiment with existing agent tools to prototype your own automations and be ready when these features become one click in mainstream platforms.

• Keep humans in the loop - Agents are powerful but they will make mistakes, so design your processes so AI does the heavy lifting and humans review or approve the key decisions, especially in hiring, finance, and client communication.

🔚 The Bottom Line

Meta buying Manus is a clear marker of where AI is headed next, away from chat only tools and toward agents that can actually run parts of your work. For you, that does not have to be scary, it is an invitation to hand off more of the repetitive, procedural tasks so you can focus on judgment, creativity, and relationships.

💬 Your Take

Would you trust an AI agent connected to WhatsApp or Instagram to run a real workflow for you, like screening leads, prepping research, or planning campaigns, and what is the first process in your business you would be willing to hand over to something like Manus?

1 comment