The acquisition of Chinese-affiliated artificial intelligence (AI) startup Manus by U.S. tech giant Meta has ultimately fallen through due to intervention by Chinese authorities.

This comes about four months after the Chinese government ordered the cancellation of the USD 2 billion (approx. 2.8 trillion won) acquisition deal, which was finalized after the Chinese company relocated to Singapore.

On the 11th, local time, Manus announced through its website that it would soon operate as an independent company.

Manus explained, "This is part of the process of separating from Meta," adding, "We must take this step to comply with regulatory requirements in certain regions of the world."

"As a result, some data generated since December 29 of last year will be deleted," the company said, urging affected users to back up their data.

This is interpreted as Manus effectively acknowledging that the acquisition deal collapsed due to pressure from Chinese authorities.

Manus is a general-purpose AI agent developed by the Chinese company Butterfly Effect.

It drew attention with a demo video showing it executing tasks autonomously upon receiving commands, earning it the nickname "the second DeepSeek."

Although it was founded in China and moved its headquarters to Singapore in July of last year, it has been evaluated as still having its core technology and talent base closely tied to China.

Meta, the operator of Facebook and Instagram, abruptly acquired Manus in December of last year, with the deal reportedly valued at approximately USD 2 billion.

At the time, Meta stated, "Manus will join Meta to bring leading agents to billions of people and unlock opportunities for businesses across our products."

Meta's acquisition of Manus drew significant attention as it took place while the Chinese government was intensifying efforts to curb the exodus of domestic tech companies.

Subsequently, the Chinese government intervened, stating it would review whether the transaction fell under technology export control targets.

Foreign media reports also emerged that Manus CEO Xiao Hong and Chief Science Officer (CSO) Zhi Yichao had been summoned to Beijing and subjected to exit bans.

Chinese authorities officially ordered the cancellation of the transaction in April.

The Office of the National Development and Reform Commission for Foreign Investment Security Review in China announced on April 27, "In accordance with laws and regulations, we have issued a ban on foreign capital acquiring Manus."

Even at that time, observations were raised that it might be difficult to reverse a transaction that had already been completed.

Meta took the stance at the time that its acquisition of Manus fully complied with applicable laws, but less than four months after the cancellation order was issued, the deal was scrapped.

This comes about eight months after Meta announced the acquisition of Manus.

Amid intensifying U.S.-China tech hegemony competition centered around semiconductors and AI, U.S.-based Meta has ultimately yielded in a matter evaluated as a critical turning point.

Analysis suggests that the collapse of this deal demonstrates how China's technological controls can extend even to companies that have relocated overseas.

Projections are also being raised that Meta's moves to strengthen its position, evaluated as an AI laggard, could face setbacks.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned of the risks of closed AI through a lengthy essay released on the 10th, criticizing the current developmental direction led by a small number of companies.

He stated, "Rather than centralizing superintelligence, it should be widely deployed so that everyone can control it."

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported last month that Manus's previous investors were discussing reacquiring stakes by valuing the company at USD 2 billion.

Tencent Holdings, a representative Chinese big tech company, is reportedly among the investors discussing becoming the largest shareholder.

(Photo: Capture from Manus website, Yonhap News)