Manus, its AI agent tool, generated massive interest ahead of its official launch in March 2025. At its launch, Chinese state media hailed Manus as a symbol of national innovation. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementThe startup was seemingly on track to achieving CEO Xiao Hong's ambition of creating a Chinese company with worldwide recognition. In a world free of geopolitics, "the Manus story would be a simple story of an incredible AI startup getting rewarded with a big exit", Kyle Chan from the Brookings Institution told AFP. Bloomberg News said in June that Meta had cut Manus off from its internal systems as the divorce progressed.