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Beijing’s blunt message to its tech sector

China’s ban on Meta-Manus deal is a warning to keep AI innovations at home

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Published Wed, Apr 29, 2026 · 05:00 PM
    • The move against the Meta-Manus deal highlights the growing barriers between the tech sectors of China and the US.
    • The move against the Meta-Manus deal highlights the growing barriers between the tech sectors of China and the US. PHOTO: BT FILE

    THERE was little detail in the brusque one-line statement with which China this week retrospectively banned Meta’s US$2 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence app Manus. But the message to Chinese entrepreneurs and early-stage investors was clear: Keep your AI technology at home.

    The team behind Manus developed the AI agent in China, but moved to Singapore in mid-2025 after receiving a major investment from US venture capital firm Benchmark – a shift that prompted some Chinese online media to call the developers “defectors”. The sale in December of the now-Singaporean venture to Facebook’s US owner Meta was seen by Chinese officials to be “conspiratorial”.

    Beijing has now ordered it to be unwound.

    The Bottom LineStartupsArtificial IntelligenceM&AUS-China relations

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