Meta severs ties with Manus after Beijing orders reversal

Meta has completed an operational separation from Manus, cutting the agentic AI startup off from its systems and stopping all data sharing after Chinese authorities ordered the $2 billion acquisition reversed in April. Last week Meta barred Manus staff from internal data systems and instructed employees to stop using Manus tools for internal projects as the companies work to unwind the deal.

Manus moved its headquarters and core teams to Singapore in mid-2025. Meta announced the acquisition in December. The founders relocated and sold the company in part to distance the business from mainland China.

Beijing published new outbound investment rules earlier this month that take effect July 1. The rules expand government authority over overseas transactions, extend oversight to additional markets including Taiwan, and give regulators powers to penalize foreign firms from countries that restrict Chinese investment. Officials cited deals like Manus as examples of transactions they could review and reverse when Chinese capital or founders remained linked to a company.

A major law firm described the order to reverse the acquisition as unprecedented under China’s foreign investment security review mechanism. Legal advisors and analysts say the rules can be applied retroactively and to future transactions involving Chinese-origin technology or capital.

Reports in May said Manus founders have opened early talks to raise roughly $1 billion from outside investors to buy the company back from Meta. That route could create a joint-venture structure with Chinese partners and lead to a listing in Hong Kong; several Chinese AI firms have listed there this year.

Han Shen Lin, China managing director at The Asia Group, observed that regulators are limiting attempts to relocate firms to Singapore to avoid domestic controls. Matthias Hendrichs, a Singapore-based adviser to global AI firms, warned that once external engineers have accessed a company’s technology stack, technical access cannot be fully undone.

Meta and Manus have not disclosed final terms or a timetable for unwinding the transaction. The separation has suspended collaborative work and data flows while both parties address the legal order from Beijing and explore restructuring or buyback options.