Manus AI
Manus builds general-purpose AI agents that autonomously execute tasks in a virtual cloud computer.
At a glance
Europe status
Manus AI: 0 — No footprint
Rated only on confirmed evidence listed below; status 2026-10-26.
Evidence for the Europe status
Only confirmed, sourced steps count. Announcements without follow-through are listed as declared interest at most.
- No physical presence in Europe.
Physical presence None confirmed. A Paris office has been “opening soon” since December 2025; we found no evidence it has opened.
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go - No named European customers or partners.
European customers or partners None named. The product is available to European users through web, desktop and mobile apps.
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go
What we know
Each line links to the article where we checked it. Company claims are marked.
- Manus builds general-purpose AI agents.
Manus builds general-purpose AI agents: software that takes a task, opens a virtual computer and works through it.
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go - Manus was registered in Beijing in April 2022 by Xiao Hong, with Ji Yichao as chief scientist and Tao Zhang as product lead.
Butterfly Effect, the company behind Manus, was registered in Beijing in April 2022 — two months before ChatGPT — by Xiao Hong, known as “Red”, with Ji Yichao (“Peak”) as chief scientist and Tao Zhang as product lead.
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go - Manus moved its headquarters to Singapore in mid-2025.
In mid-2025 the headquarters moved to Singapore.
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go - Manus launched in invitation-only beta on 6 March 2025.
Manus launched in invitation-only beta on 6 March 2025 and went viral within a day; invite codes were resold for tens of thousands of yuan.
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go - Manus does not build its own foundation model; it runs on third-party models.
What Manus does not build is the model. It has always run on third-party foundation models — early on, American ones unavailable inside China — which is why it could be fast, and why its ownership mattered so much to two governments.
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go - Meta agreed to acquire Manus for more than $2 billion in December 2025, but the deal was blocked by Chinese regulators.
In December 2025 Meta agreed to acquire Manus for more than $2 billion; the Wall Street Journal put the range at $2–3 billion. In January 2026 China’s Ministry of Commerce opened an “evaluative investigation”. In March, exit bans on executives were reported. On 27 April 2026 the National Development and Reform Commission’s foreign-investment security review office prohibited the acquisition and ordered the parties to withdraw — without naming Meta and without giving reasons.
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go - Manus announced its return to independence on 11 August and resumed independent operations on 1 September 2026.
Manus announced its return to independence on 11 August and said it formally resumed independent operations on 1 September (CNBC, Bloomberg, via Wikipedia and Hello China Tech).
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go - Manus had 105 staff across Singapore, Tokyo and San Francisco in December 2025.
Headcount 105 across Singapore, Tokyo and San Francisco, per the company in December 2025.
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go
Key number
147 trillion
tokens processed since launch
Source: our reporting — “The company says it has created more than 80 million such virtual computers and processed 147 trillion tokens since launch ( company blog ).”
Products and models
Products: Manus, Cue
Corrections and updates
Facts on this page come from our published reporting and are dated. Companies can send corrections and documents to press@insidechinaai.com. We update on evidence, never for payment — see how the directory works.
Sanctions status: not yet checked. We check the EU consolidated list and the US Entity List by name before any company is marked “none found”.
Read the full profile.
Manus AI: The Agent Company Beijing Would Not Let Go