China’s Manus raises over $500M after Meta breakup, doubling down on independent AI ambitions

Chinese AI lab Manus has secured more than $500 million in fresh funding, its first major round since Meta’s planned $2 billion acquisition of the company collapsed, according to a WeChat post by parent firm Butterfly Effect. The round, backed by several prominent Chinese investment funds, positions Manus as one of the country’s best‑capitalized independent AI players. The startup is known for its large language models and advanced software “agents,” which aim to handle complex, multi‑step digital tasks with limited human supervision. Manus initially drew global attention when Meta agreed to buy it, but the deal ran into headwinds amid rising scrutiny over data sovereignty and national‑security implications, and was ultimately abandoned. With the new funding, Manus is expected to scale its computing infrastructure, accelerate model training and expand commercial cloud offerings to enterprise customers in China and potentially abroad. At the same time, the company must navigate Beijing’s tightening rules on recommendation algorithms, generative content and cross‑border data flows, which will heavily shape how—and where—its technology can be deployed.