Meta's Acquisition of Manus Escalates: China Punishes Involved Personnel, Possibly Including Restrictions on Executives' Exit

Odaily News: The Chinese government is taking punitive measures against individuals related to Meta's $2 billion acquisition of Manus. Manus is an AI startup headquartered in Singapore with Chinese background.

Informed sources stated that the scope of the Chinese government's actions remains unclear, but it appears to include restricting Manus executives from traveling from China to Singapore. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said the transaction fully complies with applicable laws, and the Manus team is now deeply integrated into Meta.

In January this year, Chinese officials indicated they were investigating whether the deal violated China's regulations concerning technology export approvals. This matter comes at a sensitive time in US-China relations. US President Trump originally planned to visit Beijing at the end of this month to meet with Chinese leaders, but Trump stated on Monday that he had requested China to postpone the visit. Shengyu Wang, a research assistant at the Asia Society Policy Institute, believes the Chinese government's scrutiny of Meta may be aimed at creating leverage ahead of trade negotiations, while also sending a signal to Chinese AI researchers to deter them from following Manus's approach.