China orders Meta-Manus deal unwound
China's NDRC prohibits foreign investment in Manus and orders Meta and Manus to withdraw from the $2-3B deal.
A first sign that Beijing treats moving an AI startup abroad ('Singapore washing') as a technology-export issue. About 100 Manus staff had moved to Meta's Singapore offices; CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Yichao Ji reportedly faced exit bans. Meta later unwound it (2026-06-15) and Manus returned to independence (2026-08-11), per Wikipedia.
- Date
- Monday, 27 April 2026
- Lab
- Meta / Manus
- Kind
- product
- Access
- app only
China gave no official reasons. The June and August follow-ups come from Wikipedia and search summaries; primary sources not opened.
Sources
- techcrunch.com/2026/04/27/china-vetoes-metas-2b-manus-deal-after-months-long-probe/
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manus_(AI_agent)
This record was checked against its sources on 6 October 2026. How we check