Meta continues to attract attention when acquiring Manus, an artificial intelligence startup based in Singapore, amid increasingly fierce AI competition among technology giants.
Although not announcing the value of the deal, this move is assessed by analysts as a strategic step, in line with the long-term vision that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly emphasized as aiming to develop "personal superintelligence".
Manus was originally established in China before moving its headquarters to Singapore. Earlier this year, this startup made a splash by launching a multi-functional AI system based on a large language model (LLM), capable of automatically navigating the web and performing complex tasks on behalf of users.
These capabilities allow AI not only to answer questions but also to proactively research the market, program or analyze data. These are all characteristics considered general AI approaches.
According to Meta's announcement, the acquisition of Manus aims to accelerate AI innovation for both businesses and consumer products, while integrating advanced automation capabilities into the existing ecosystem, including AI assistant Meta.
Notably, Meta affirmed that the deal will not disrupt Manus' service, and paid customers will continue to use the platform as usual.
In parallel with technology, Meta is particularly interested in the human factor. Manus' personnel will be merged into the group's AI groups, in the context that Meta is actively hunting for personnel from startups and major competitors such as OpenAI or Google. Showing that AI talent is becoming a valuable asset no less than core technology.
Previously, Meta acquired Limitless, a startup developing smart wearable devices integrated with AI and invested more than 14.3 billion USD in Scale AI, and at the same time brought co-founder Alexandr Wang to lead Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). This is the unit assigned the task of realizing the "personal superintelligence" vision.
According to Mark Zuckerberg's explanation, "personal superintelligence" is AI systems that can surpass humans in many fields, but are designed to support each individual in achieving their own goals, instead of just serving businesses or research.
Manus, with its ability to perform complex task chains on behalf of users, is considered a suitable piece for that ambition.
Compared to the Scale AI deal mainly aimed at attracting talent, the acquisition of Manus and Limitless is a complete technology acquisition. This flexible approach shows that Meta is taking advantage of financial potential to deploy many directions at the same time, in order to avoid falling behind in the increasingly fierce AI race.
