China’s scrutiny of Meta’s acquisition of AI startup Manus has intensified. The Financial Times reported, and Reuters relayed, that two Manus co-founders were told they could not leave China during an ongoing regulatory review, but Reuters said it could not independently verify that specific travel restriction.
TL;DR
- China’s commerce ministry said in January it would assess and investigate Meta’s acquisition of Manus for compliance with Chinese laws and regulations.
- The Financial Times later reported that Manus CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao were restricted from leaving China during the review, a detail Reuters said it could not independently verify.
- The central issue is whether moving Manus staff and technology to Singapore before the sale required an export licence under Chinese law.
Meta’s December acquisition of Manus is no longer just a high-profile AI deal. It is now the subject of an official Chinese review, and the latest development has raised the stakes further.
On March 25, Reuters cited a Financial Times report saying Manus chief executive Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao were summoned to a meeting in Beijing with China’s National Development and Reform Commission this month and then told they could not leave the country, although they remained free to travel within China. Reuters added that it could not immediately verify the report.
The part that is firmly established is the regulatory review itself. On January 8, China’s commerce ministry said it would assess and investigate Meta’s acquisition of Manus. Ministry spokesperson He Yadong said companies involved in foreign investment, technology exports, data transfers abroad and acquisitions must comply with Chinese laws and regulations.
That moved the issue beyond market chatter and into a publicly acknowledged government process. Reuters had already reported a day earlier, again citing the Financial Times, that Chinese officials were examining whether Manus’ relocation of staff and technology to Singapore, followed by the sale to Meta, required an export licence under Chinese law.
At that stage, Reuters said the review was preliminary and might not have become a formal investigation. By January 8, however, Beijing had publicly confirmed it was reviewing the transaction.
That matters because Meta had presented the acquisition as a straightforward AI expansion play. Reuters reported on December 30 that Meta would acquire Chinese-founded, Singapore-based Manus, with a source saying the transaction valued the company at between $2 billion and $3 billion.
Manus had gone viral earlier in 2025 after promoting what it called a general AI agent, and Reuters later reported the startup had a strategic partnership with Alibaba’s Qwen team and a waiting list of 2 million users for its product.
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In its own post announcing the transaction, Manus said it would continue to operate from Singapore and keep selling subscriptions through its app and website. Xiao Hong said, “Joining Meta allows us to build on a stronger, more sustainable foundation without changing how Manus works or how decisions are made.”
The company also said its agent had processed more than 147 trillion tokens and powered more than 80 million virtual computers since launch, figures that come from Manus itself.
For now, the cleanest framing is this: Meta’s Manus acquisition is under an acknowledged Chinese regulatory review, and the Financial Times has reported that two co-founders face travel restrictions as part of that scrutiny. What is not yet established on the record is whether Chinese authorities will formally find a legal breach, impose penalties beyond the reported travel curbs, or force changes to the deal. Meta and Manus did not immediately respond to Reuters on March 25.
