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Facebook owner Meta has agreed to acquire Manus, an artificial intelligence agent created by a company founded in China but now based in Singapore, the two firms said.
However, analysts warned the deal could fall foul of regulators at a time of fierce technological rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
Exceeding the capabilities of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, AI agents can autonomously perform complex tasks for users and are seen as having huge potential.
Manus, created by startup Butterfly Effect, can, for example, sift through and summarise resumes or make a stock analysis website, according to its website.
Meta said Monday that the deal, the financial details of which were not disclosed, will “bring a leading agent to billions of people and unlock opportunities for businesses across our products”.
“The era of AI that doesn’t just talk, but acts, creates, and delivers, is only beginning,” Manus chief executive Xiao Hong said on X.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making a massive push into AI, spending billions of dollars on acquisitions, hiring engineers and building data centres.
