Meta Platforms announced on Tuesday its acquisition of Manos, a Singapore-based company specializing in the development of multi-purpose artificial intelligence software, as part of its massive investments in the field of artificial intelligence.
Manus, which was founded in China before moving to Singapore, launched its first general artificial intelligence program earlier this year, capable of performing complex tasks such as market research, programming and data analysis.
The company stated that it achieved an average annual revenue of more than $100 million just eight months after launching its products, while its revenue rate exceeded $125 million.
Meta said in a statement that the acquisition aims to accelerate innovation in the field of corporate artificial intelligence and integrate advanced automation technologies into its consumer and enterprise products, including Meta's AI Assistant.
The company added: Manus currently serves the needs of millions of users and businesses around the world, and we are seeking to expand the service to include more companies.
According to the two companies, Manus will continue to operate its subscription services without any disruption. Precise financial details of the deal have not yet been disclosed, but a Wall Street Journal report, citing sources familiar with the matter, indicated that its value exceeded $2 billion.
The company began as a project of the Chinese startup Butterfly Effect, also known as Monica.Im, before evolving into an independent entity, and came to prominence this year after asserting that its chatbot outperforms OpenAI's Deep Research software.
Manus had raised $75 million in a Series II funding round led by US firm Benchmark in April, and backed by companies such as Tencent and HongShan Capital Group (formerly known as Sequoia).
Manus CEO Xiao Hong said that joining Meta will allow the company to benefit from a stronger and more sustainable base without changing the way it operates or makes decisions.
The deal is part of Meta's broader strategy to acquire AI startups to gain talent and accelerate its business in the field, including the development of open-source large language models, Llama.
Last June, Meta invested approximately $14.3 billion in the startup Scale AI, and this month it acquired Limitless, a company specializing in artificial intelligence devices, to strengthen its presence in this rapidly growing sector.
