Read a summary of this article on FAST.
FAST
Chinese officials are reviewing Meta's US$2 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus for possible technology control violations, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday (Jan 6), citing two people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Meta and Manus did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Chinese commerce ministry officials began assessing whether the relocation of Manus' staff and technology to Singapore and the consequent sale to Meta required an export licence under Chinese law, the report said.
While the review is in its preliminary stages and may not lead to a formal investigation, the need for a licence could provide Beijing with an avenue to influence the transaction, including, in an extreme case, trying to force the parties to abandon the deal, the report added.
Meta acquired Manus last month, when a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the deal values the Singapore-based firm at between US$2 billion and US$3 billion.
Manus went viral early this year on X after it released what it claimed was the world's first general AI agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously, with much less prompting required than AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek.
Source: Reuters/rl
Newsletter
Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review
Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Download here
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Join here
Continue reading...
FAST
Chinese officials are reviewing Meta's US$2 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus for possible technology control violations, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday (Jan 6), citing two people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Meta and Manus did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Chinese commerce ministry officials began assessing whether the relocation of Manus' staff and technology to Singapore and the consequent sale to Meta required an export licence under Chinese law, the report said.
While the review is in its preliminary stages and may not lead to a formal investigation, the need for a licence could provide Beijing with an avenue to influence the transaction, including, in an extreme case, trying to force the parties to abandon the deal, the report added.
Meta acquired Manus last month, when a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the deal values the Singapore-based firm at between US$2 billion and US$3 billion.
Manus went viral early this year on X after it released what it claimed was the world's first general AI agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously, with much less prompting required than AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek.
Also read:
Source: Reuters/rl
Newsletter
Week in Review
Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review
Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Download here
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Join here
Continue reading...