China blocks Meta acquisition
- China’s National Development and Reform Commission ordered Meta on Monday to cancel its $2 billion purchase of Manus, the Singapore-based AI startup with Chinese roots. - Beijing said the deal violated foreign-investment rules for sensitive technology after months of scrutiny over whether Manus’s AI know-how could move to the US. - The order follows new Chinese curbs on US money in local AI firms after the Manus deal drew backlash. (bloomberg.com)
China ordered Meta to unwind its $2 billion acquisition of Manus on Monday, killing one of the biggest cross-border AI deals in months. (reuters.com) (bloomberg.com) The order came from China’s National Development and Reform Commission, which issued a brief April 27 notice canceling the deal. Manus is a Singapore-based startup with Chinese roots that Meta agreed to buy in late December 2025. (reuters.com) (bloomberg.com) Bloomberg reported the purchase price at more than $2 billion, and CNBC said Meta had argued in March that the acquisition complied with applicable law. Chinese regulators opened a probe in January before deciding to block it. (bloomberg.com) (cnbc.com) (bloomberg.com) Manus makes “agentic” artificial intelligence software, a type of system built to carry out multistep tasks with less human prompting than a standard chatbot. That capability turned the company into a test case for how Beijing treats AI code, talent and ownership when a US buyer comes calling. (bloomberg.com) (reuters.com) Chinese officials framed the decision as part of a broader effort to keep sensitive AI technology from moving abroad. Reuters said the ruling underscored Beijing’s determination to stop AI talent and intellectual property from being acquired by US companies. (reuters.com) The Manus deal had already triggered wider policy changes. Bloomberg reported on April 24 that Chinese regulators planned to require government approval before prominent domestic tech companies could accept US capital. (bloomberg.com) Scrutiny had also spread to the startup’s founders. Bloomberg reported in March that Chinese authorities had barred two Manus co-founders from leaving the country as the review intensified. (bloomberg.com) Meta did not immediately comment in several reports published outside US business hours on April 27. The block leaves the company without the acquisition Mark Zuckerberg had pursued to strengthen Meta’s AI lineup. (bloomberg.com) (reuters.com) For now, the clearest result is that Beijing has moved from reviewing the Manus sale to reversing it. That raises the bar for any future attempt by a US tech giant to buy a Chinese-linked AI company. (bloomberg.com) (reuters.com)
