Meta is continuing its massive spending spree on artificial intelligence, announcing on Tuesday that it has acquired the AI startup Manus. While the exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, The Wall Street Journal reports that the price tag was over $2 billion.
Manus is a Singapore-based company that develops “general-purpose AI agents.” These are powerful AI tools that can handle complex, multi-step tasks on their own, such as conducting market research, writing code, or analyzing data. The company launched its first agent earlier this year and claims it’s already a huge success, with annualized revenue exceeding $100 million.
Meta says the acquisition will help it accelerate its AI innovation and integrate Manus’s advanced automation into its products, including the Meta AI assistant. “Manus is already serving the daily needs of millions of users and businesses worldwide… We plan to scale this service to many more businesses,” Meta said in a statement. For now, Manus will continue to operate its existing subscription service.
The acquisition is the latest in a series of big AI moves for Meta. The company is aggressively acquiring specialized AI startups to gain both their technology and their talented employees. In June, Meta invested a massive $14.3 billion in the AI startup Scale AI, a deal that brought its founder onto Meta’s leadership team. With this latest acquisition, Meta is making it clear that it’s willing to spend whatever it takes to be a dominant force in the AI race.
