Meta to purchase S'pore-based startup Manus for over S$2.5 billion: WSJ

Meta has agreed to acquire Manus, a Singapore-based startup, to enhance its Artificial Intelligence (AI) business portfolio, leveraging the purchase in the race for AI dominance.

Wall Street Journal reported that Meta is closing the deal at more than US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion), according to people familiar with the acquisition

Manus had reportedly projected its yearly earnings to be US$125 million (S$160.5 million) in early 2025, reported The Business Times (BT).

In a statement on Dec. 29, Meta claimed that Manus "can independently execute complex tasks like market research, coding, and data analysis" after the early-2025 launch of its first General AI agent.

The tech giant added that it will "continue to operate and sell the Manus service, as well as integrate it into our products".

More about Manus

Manus' parent company, Butterfly Effect, was founded in China before shifting to Singapore in mid-2025, according to Business Insider.

According to Manus' website, the company sells "general AI agents", which include creating PowerPoint slides, illustrations and coding for web applications.

With minimal human supervision, AI agents are different from generative AI chatbots which rely on user prompts.

Manus was valued at close to US$500 million (S$642 million) after raising US$75 million (S$96.61 million) in an investment round by Benchmark, a US venture capital firm, reported BT.

Manus released a separate statement on Dec. 29, stating that they would "continue to operate from Singapore".

Xiao Hong, CEO of Manus, stated that he was excited about Manus' future with Meta.

“Joining Meta allows us to build on a stronger, more sustainable foundation without changing how Manus works or how decisions are made.”

Meta's AI prioritisation

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg has prioritised AI growth and has also spent aggressively to recruit researchers and construct data centres, stated BT.

Meta, which owns Facebook, faces rivals such as OpenAI, Alphabet's Google and Microsoft in the AI race.

Zuckerberg has pledged US$600 billion on largely AI-related American infrastructure projects including a new AI model that is expected to debut in spring 2026.

In June 2025, Meta finalised a US$14.3 billion (S$18.3 billion) investment into Scale AI and allegedly poached its CEO, Alexandr Wang, reported CNA.

At the time, it was Meta's second-largest deal after the US$19 billion (S$24.4 billion) buyout of WhatsApp. 

Top photo from Manus/Google and Mark Zuckerberg/FB.