China Just Killed Meta's $2 Billion AI Deal — And the Global AI Race Will Never Be the Same
Beijing just dropped a one-line bomb on the global AI industry. China’s National Development and Reform Commission ordered Meta to unwind its $2 billion acquisition of Manus — the AI agent startup that was supposed to be Zuckerberg’s secret weapon. No negotiation. No diplomatic hedging. Just: reverse the deal. This isn’t a regulatory hiccup. It’s the moment the AI race officially split into two separate universes. What Made Manus Worth $2 Billion Manus builds general-purpose AI agents — software that doesn’t just chat but acts. It codes applications, runs market research, manages data analysis, and prepares budgets autonomously. Think of it as the generation after chatbots. ...