Meta takes a step back in the acquisition of AI startup Manus following a Chinese order.
Meta acquired the Singapore-based AI startup Manus last year for more than two billion dollars. Now, six months later, Meta is decoupling from the company following a Chinese order in April. The order is based on unspecified legal grounds. The end of the deal means that Manus staff will no longer have access to Meta’s internal data networks. Furthermore, Meta staff are no longer permitted to use Manus’s tools, Bloomberg reports.
Decoupling after Chinese order
The decoupling of Meta and Manus, who only recently announced their two-billion-dollar partnership, follows an April order from China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The precise legal grounds are not specified, but it is rare for Chinese authorities to dismantle completed acquisitions.
The Singapore-based company moved to Singapore prior to the sale, but according to the NDRC, offshore registration cannot bypass Chinese oversight because the core technology remains present in the country.
China is currently undergoing a broad regulatory shift, giving officials more power to undo international deals even if the company is not registered in China.
Buy back
Manus founders Zhang Tao, Ji Yichao, and Xiao Hong now hope to secure approximately one billion dollars in external funding to buy back the company. They hope to supplement the remaining financing with their own capital to regain control of the company at its original valuation of two billion dollars.