Meta Platforms is preparing to reverse its acquisition of AI Startup Manus after the Chinese government blocked the deal on national security grounds, a move that cost more than $2 billion. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) ordered the transaction to be unwound, marking a rare and significant intervention in a deal that had already been completed in December 2025.
Manus is based in Singapore, but its founders and original operations were in China, which gives Beijing a legal advantage in claiming authority over the transfer of its technology and data. Beijing has given Meta a strict deadline of just a few weeks to restore all data from Manus’s Chinese assets and remove any previously transferred data or technology.
This “unwinding” is complicated because Meta had already begun integrating Manus’s general-purpose AI agents into its own systems and relocating key staff to its Singapore offices. According to the reports, investors like Benchmark have already received returns, while several Asian investors, including Tencent and ZhenFund, may cooperate to rescind the transaction.
This move reflects China’s intensifying effort to prevent frontier AI breakthroughs and domestic talent from falling into American hands. The block comes at a sensitive time, just weeks before a planned summit in Beijing between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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If Meta fails to fully rescind the deal, Chinese regulators may impose penalties. This intervention serves as a warning to other Chinese startups attempting to redomicile abroad to bypass local investment restrictions.
