China Bars Manus Co-Founders from Leaving Country Amid Meta Deal Review
China has barred two co-founders of artificial intelligence startup Manus from leaving the country as regulators review whether Meta's $2 billion acquisition of the firm violated investment rules, according to a Financial Times report. Manus CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao were summoned to a meeting in Beijing with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) this month.
Following the meeting, the executives were told they could not leave China due to a regulatory review, though they remain free to travel within the country. Manus is actively seeking legal and consulting assistance to help resolve the matter.
Meta announced in December that it would acquire Manus, which develops general-purpose AI agents capable of operating as digital employees. These agents perform tasks such as research and automation with minimal prompting. Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source told Reuters the deal valued Manus at $2 billion-$3 billion.
A Meta spokesperson stated: "The transaction complied fully with applicable law. We anticipate an appropriate resolution to the inquiry." Earlier this year, China's commerce ministry said it would assess and investigate Meta's acquisition of Manus.
📖 Read the full source: r/LocalLLaMA
👀 See Also
Agora-1: Open Source Multi-Agent World Model for Real-Time Shared Simulation
Odyssey releases Agora-1, a world model that enables up to four agents (human or AI) to share a real-time generated simulation, using GoldenEye as the test environment.
AI Interview Platforms Tested: CodeSignal, Humanly, Eightfold in Job Screening
The Verge tested three AI interview platforms including CodeSignal, Humanly, and Eightfold for job screening. The AI avatars conduct one-on-one video interviews, analyze responses, and claim to reduce bias, though bias-free systems remain impossible due to training data limitations.
China's DeepSeek, Qwen, and Moonshot: Affordable AI Models Threaten US Dominance
Bloomberg reports that Chinese AI models DeepSeek, Qwen, and Moonshot are gaining traction due to lower costs, challenging US AI leaders.
Why Is OpenClaw Burning Tokens So Fast? Exploring the Phenomenon
OpenClaw, a leading AI coding agent, is reportedly burning tokens at an unprecedented rate. We delve into what this means for its users and the possible reasons behind this phenomenon.