Meta Buys Manus to Turn AI Agents Into a Business

Zuck has struck again. Meta Platforms has acquired Manus, a Singapore-based startup developing general-purpose AI agents, in a deal valued at more than $2 billion. The acquisition caps off a breakneck busy year of AI dealmaking for Meta. 

It highlights the overall goal of building AI products that are already generating real revenue, not just long-term potential.

Manus sells an AI agent designed to handle everyday business tasks, such as resume screening, market research, coding, data analysis, and even things like trip planning. The product is offered through a subscription model, which has really taken off.

Why Manus mattered to Meta

Mere months after launch, Manus reported an annual revenue run rate of more than $125 million. That puts it in a relatively small group of AI startups that have moved past demos and experimentation and into something that looks like a real business.

For Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Manus helps close the gap between AI investment and payoff. Meta has spent years and invested heavily in building its AI stack. Manus brings a product that’s already in the market and generating revenue.

Meta said the acquisition will help accelerate AI development across both its consumer and enterprise offerings, including its Meta AI assistant. In a company statement, Meta said:

“Manus is already serving the daily needs of millions of users and businesses worldwide … We plan to scale this service to many more businesses.”

What stands out is how practical this is. Manus’ agents are built to automate work and move things forward, which matches where Meta has been steering its AI efforts.

A fast-growing company with global roots

Manus was originally founded in China as part of a startup called Butterfly Effect before relocating its headquarters to Singapore earlier this year. Since then, the company has grown and scaled quickly, signing up millions of users and raising $75 million in a Series B round led by Benchmark at a reported $500 million valuation.

Following the acquisition, Manus will continue operating from Singapore. CEO Xiao Hong will report to Meta COO Javier Olivan. 

Meta also confirmed it will wind down Manus’s remaining operations in China and that there will be “no continuing Chinese ownership interests” after the transaction.

What this says about Meta’s AI strategy

This deal also fits with how Meta has been building out its AI business lately. Earlier this year, the company invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI. It also acquired AI wearables startup Limitless, all to get AI out of the lab and into actual products faster.

What makes Manus different is that it’s already doing that. Meta isn’t just acquiring potential here; it’s a working example of how AI agents can be sold and scaled today.

Ericsson recently added agentic AI to NetCloud, highlighting how vendors are already integrating it into practical tools for network troubleshooting and workflow automation, showing that the channel is moving past simple chat-style assistants into real work automation.