"Steps Toward Severing Ties With China"
The Hong Kong newspaper Sing Tao Daily reported on July 13 that the artificial intelligence (AI) model Manus has closed its social media accounts for the Chinese market.
According to the report, Manus recently deleted its accounts on WeChat, China's largest social media platform, and Xiaohongshu. When accessing the official website, only a message stating "Manus is not available in your region" is displayed.
Manus was recently rumored to have downsized its service staff in China. In response, on July 8, Manus stated, "Based on considerations for the company's own operational efficiency, we have made adjustments to certain business teams," and added, "The company will continue to focus on the development of core operations while improving overall operational efficiency."
Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that Manus's layoffs in China and the relocation of its headquarters to Singapore signify a severance of ties with China, citing geopolitical issues and capital pressure as the main factors.
In May, Manus secured $75 million (100 billion won) in Series B funding. However, as the United States has introduced stricter foreign investment security reviews, the company is currently under review by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. This U.S. policy prohibits American capital from being invested in areas that could strengthen Chinese AI technology.
Additionally, as the United States controls semiconductor exports to China, Manus is reportedly facing a shortage of computing power. Central News Agency assessed that this may have made the move to Singapore necessary to circumvent such restrictions.
Manus is an AI agent unveiled in March by Hudi? Xiaoying (Butterfly Effect), an AI startup backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings. It has been called "the world's first artificial general intelligence (AGI)" or "the second DeepSeek."
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