Meta Acquires AI Startup Manus for $2 Billion in Major Push Toward Autonomous AI Agents
Summary
Meta acquires AI startup Manus for $2 billion in one of the largest AI deals ever, gaining technology that creates autonomous agents capable of coding and complex tasks as the tech giant pivots from chatbots to compete with Google and OpenAI in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence race.
Key Points
- Meta acquires AI startup Manus for $2 billion, marking one of the largest AI acquisitions to date as the company shifts focus from chatbots to autonomous AI agents
- Manus develops semi-autonomous AI agents capable of performing complex tasks like coding, data analysis, and web-based operations, serving millions of users with over 147 trillion tokens processed
- The acquisition accelerates Meta's strategy to compete in the AI agent race against Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT, with plans to integrate Manus into Meta AI assistant and enterprise offerings