China Vetoes Meta’s $2b Manus Deal After Months-long Probe

China’s apical economical planner, nan National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said connected Monday it has blocked Meta’s $2 cardinal acquisition of Manus, an agentic AI startup founded by Chinese engineers that relocated to Singapore earlier Mark Zuckerberg scooped it up precocious past year.

The move marks 1 of China’s astir important interventions successful a cross-border deal, 1 that extends good beyond U.S.-China tensions and into nan broader AI industry. For Meta, it could woody a superior rustle to its ambitions successful nan fast-moving AI agents space.

With nary mentation offered, China’s NDRC ordered some parties to unwind nan woody entirely.

“The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has made a determination to prohibit overseas finance successful nan Manus task successful accordance pinch laws and regulations, and has required nan parties progressive to retreat nan acquisition transaction,” it said.

But nan business is acold from straightforward. Around  100 Manus labor person already moved into Meta’s Singapore offices arsenic of March, pinch founders taking connected executive roles. CEO Xiao Hong now reports directly to Meta COO Javier Olivan. Manus CEO Hong and Chief Scientist Yichao Ji are reportedly nether exit bans, preventing them from leaving mainland China.

“The transaction complied afloat pinch applicable law. We expect an due solution to nan inquiry,” a spokesperson astatine Meta told TechCrunch.

Founded successful 2022 by Hong, Ji and Tao Zhang, Manus relocated its office from China to Singapore astir mid-2025. Just months later, Meta came knocking. The institution announced its acquisition of Manus successful December 2025 for astir $2 cardinal to $3 billion, pinch plans to fold its supplier exertion straight into Meta AI.

Meta has agreed to get Singapore-based AI startup Manus, pinch nan woody requiring a afloat exit from Chinese ownership and operations, per Nikkei Asia. But nan company’s origins trace backmost to China. Manus’ founders antecedently established its genitor company, Butterfly Effect, successful Beijing successful 2022 earlier relocating to Singapore. That inheritance has drawn scrutiny successful Washington, wherever Senator John Cornyn has already raised concerns astir Benchmark’s finance successful nan company, questioning whether American superior should beryllium flowing to a Chinese-linked firm, TechCrunch pointed out, citing Cornyn’s station connected X.

Manus did not respond to TechCrunch’s petition for comment.