Meta said it would acquire Chinese-founded artificial intelligence startup Manus, as the technology giant accelerates efforts to integrate advanced AI across its platforms.
Financial terms of its transaction with Manus were not released, but a source with direct knowledge of the matter said the deal values the Singapore-based firm at between $2 billion and $3 billion.
Manus did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Once hailed as China's next DeepSeek, Manus went viral earlier this year on X by releasing what it claimed to be the world's first general AI agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously, with much less prompting required than AI chatbots.
Beijing has since shown
interest in supporting Manus, which claims performance of its AI agent surpasses that of OpenAI's DeepResearch.
The company also has a strategic
partnership with Alibaba
(9988.HK), opens new tab to collaborate on their AI models.
Meta will operate and sell the Manus service and integrate it into its consumer and business products, including in Meta AI, the company said.
Tech giants such as Meta have been ramping up AI investments through strategic acquisitions and talent hires as they navigate fierce industry competition.