China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said on Monday it had blocked Meta’s takeover of Manus, an artificial intelligence startup agency founded by Chinese engineers who relocated to Singapore before Mark Zuckerberg late last year.
The move marks one of China’s most significant interventions in a cross-border deal, one that extends far beyond US-China tensions and into the broader artificial intelligence industry. For Meta, it could deal a serious blow to its ambitions in the fast-moving AI agent space.
Without any explanation, the Chinese NDRC ordered both parties to completely scrap the agreement.
“The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has made a decision to prohibit foreign investment in the Manus project in accordance with laws and regulations and has asked the parties involved to withdraw the takeover transaction.” he said.
But the situation is far from simple. Around 100 Manus employees have already moved Meta offices in Singapore since March, with founders taking executive roles. CEO Xiao Hong reports now directly to Meta COO Javier Olivan. Manus CEO Hong and Chief Scientist Yichao Ji are according to information under an exit ban, preventing them from leaving mainland China.
“The transaction was fully compliant with applicable law. We await an appropriate resolution to the investigation,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Founded in 2022 by Hong, Ji and Tao Zhang, Manus moved its headquarters from China to Singapore around mid-2025. Just months later, Meta struck. The company announced the acquisition of Manus in December 2025 for around $2 billion to $3 billion, with plans to fold its agent technology directly into Meta AI.
Meta has agreed to acquire Singapore-based artificial intelligence startup Manus, with the deal requiring a full exit from Chinese ownership and operations, Nikkei Asia. But the company’s origins can be traced back to China. Manus’ founders previously founded its parent company, Butterfly Effect, in Beijing in 2022 before moving to Singapore. That background has drawn scrutiny in Washington, where Sen. John Cornyn has already raised concerns about Benchmark’s investment in the company, questioning whether U.S. capital should flow to a China-linked firm, TechCrunch noted. citing Cornyn’s post on X.
Manus did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This does not affect our editorial independence.
