TLDR
- China’s NDRC blocked Meta’s acquisition of AI startup Manus on Monday
- Meta agreed to buy Manus in December for more than $2 billion
- Manus CEO and chief scientist were barred from leaving China in March during regulatory review
- Beijing ordered all parties to withdraw from the acquisition transaction
- The block signals China’s intent to prevent foreign acquisition of domestic AI assets
Meta had been moving fast in the AI agent space. In December, it announced a deal to acquire Manus — an AI agent built by startup Butterfly Effect, originally founded in China but operating out of Singapore.
Bloomberg: China 🇨🇳 has blocked $META's $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus, ordering the deal unwound after backlash over AI technology flowing to the U.S. pic.twitter.com/giHtgAK69H
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) April 27, 2026
The price tag? More than $2 billion, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts.
Manus had made a splash early last year, with Chinese state media calling it the country’s next DeepSeek after it launched what it claimed was the world’s first general AI agent. It can do things like screen resumes or build a stock analysis website.
But analysts flagged at the time that the deal faced real regulatory risk, given the ongoing tech rivalry between the US and China.
Those concerns proved well-founded.
Beijing Puts the Brakes On
In March, things took a sharp turn. Manus CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao were summoned to Beijing and told they could not leave China while regulators reviewed the deal. Both are normally based in Singapore.
On Monday, China’s National Development and Reform Commission made it official — the acquisition is blocked. The NDRC said it would “prohibit the foreign investment in the acquisition of the Manus project” and ordered all parties to withdraw from the transaction.
The commission said the decision was made “in accordance with laws and regulations,” offering no further detail.
The move is being watched closely. Manus had relocated its headquarters from China to Singapore — a step many Chinese companies have taken to reduce exposure to US-China tensions. But that move offered no protection here.
Alfredo Montufar-Helu of Ankura China Advisors said the decision shows that controls once focused on semiconductors are now extending into AI. “China is saying we will prevent foreign acquisition of assets we consider important for national security — and AI is now clearly one of them,” he said.
Meta said in December the deal would “bring a leading agent to billions of people and unlock opportunities for businesses across our products.” The company has not yet commented on Monday’s block.
The NDRC’s intervention could also put a new item on the agenda for the planned mid-May summit between President Trump and President Xi Jinping.
Meta stock fell 2.41% on the news.
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