On January 8, 2026, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced a formal investigation into Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of the AI startup Manus. The probe centers on whether the deal violated China’s strict technology export control laws and regulations regarding cross-border mergers. Ministry spokesperson He Yadong stated that the government would assess if the transfer of proprietary AI technology from the startup’s original Chinese entities to Meta required an official export license, marking a major escalation in the global regulatory battle over "Agentic AI" assets.

The acquisition, finalized in late December 2025, represents Meta’s largest AI-focused purchase to date. Manus gained international fame earlier that year for developing what it called the world’s first "general-purpose AI agent"—an autonomous system capable of executing complex, multi-step tasks like full-stack coding, market research, and data analysis with minimal human guidance. For Meta, the deal is a strategic move to integrate autonomous workflows into its enterprise and consumer products, moving beyond simple chatbots to fully automated digital assistants.

The primary legal friction arises from the startup's "Singapore-washed" origins. Founded in 2022 in Beijing by Chinese engineer Xiao Hong, Manus developed its core intellectual property and trained its initial models within mainland China. Following a $75 million funding round led by the U.S. venture capital firm Benchmark in 2025, the company relocated its headquarters to Singapore and fired the majority of its Beijing-based staff. Beijing is now investigating whether this relocation was a deliberate attempt to bypass domestic tech controls and "abscond" with Chinese-developed innovation to the U.S. ecosystem.

China’s scrutiny highlights a growing concern over the "brain drain" of its elite AI talent. Analysts suggest that if Meta is allowed to proceed without consequences, it could encourage other high-potential Chinese startups to relocate to Singapore to secure American capital and escape domestic restrictions. By launching this investigation, Beijing is signaling that it views autonomous agents and the talent behind them as vital national assets that cannot be transferred overseas without explicit state approval.

From Meta’s perspective, the acquisition was carefully structured to distance the technology from its Chinese roots. The company stated that following the deal, there would be "no continuing Chinese ownership interests" in Manus and that all of the startup's services within mainland China would be discontinued. Meta intends to keep Manus based in Singapore while integrating its architecture—which utilizes a mix of frontier models like Claude and Alibaba’s Qwen—into the broader Meta AI framework.

The outcome of the probe could have significant implications for the speed and scope of Meta's AI deployment. If regulators find that Manus should have obtained an export license before its move to Singapore, the founders could face criminal charges, and the deal itself could be scuppered or subjected to heavy conditions. Even if the deal isn't blocked, a lengthy approval process could give Beijing significant bargaining power in future high-profile U.S.-led acquisitions involving companies with Chinese ties.

This investigation underscores the increasing complexity of the "Reverse CFIUS" era, where both Washington and Beijing are aggressively policing the flow of capital and technology. As the race for the first truly autonomous AI agent intensifies, the Meta-Manus deal has become a definitive test case for how startups with cross-border histories must navigate the hardening legal boundaries between the world's two largest tech superpowers.