Why Manus's co-founders have been barred from leaving China
What's the story
China has barred the two co-founders of artificial intelligence start-up Manus from leaving the country, according to a Financial Times report. The restriction comes as regulators are investigating whether Meta's $2 billion acquisition of Manus violated investment rules. The firm's CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao were summoned by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) earlier this month.
Travel ban
Manus looking for legal firms to deal with situation
Post their meeting with the NDRC, Hong and Ji were informed that they couldn't leave China due to a regulatory review. However, they are still allowed to travel within the country. Manus is now looking for legal firms as well as consultancies to help them deal with this troubling situation.
Acquisition
Meta's $2B acquisition of Manus
In December, Meta announced its plan to acquire Manus, a company that creates general-purpose AI agents capable of performing tasks like research and automation with minimal prompts. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but sources had told Reuters at the time that it valued the company between $2 billion and $3 billion. Earlier this year, China's commerce ministry had said it would review Meta's acquisition of Manus.