Tencent is reportedly in talks to acquire Manus from Meta, following Beijing intervention — company expects to remain independent of Chinese tech giant

Manus is effectively cut off from Meta, but someone still has to pay back the $2 billion it spent on the startup.

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This move marks Beijing’s increasing protectiveness of its AI companies and experts, which it considers strategic assets in its heated rivalry with the U.S. We can see this in the Chinese government’s five-year plan, which is doubling down on technological self-reliance . It has even gotten to the point that AI experts, even those working in private firms, are now required to secure approval before traveling internationally .

U.S. tech giants are investing billions of dollars to develop their AI models, even dangling hundred-million-dollar bonuses to hire AI experts — one AI founder even claimed that Meta offered a $1.25-billion bonus . It seems that China is trying to avoid a situation where its experts are enticed to work for American AI tech companies, with the Financial Times reporting that Chinese officials are calling Meta’s acquisition of Manus “a conspiratorial attempt to hollow out China’s technology base.” The order to undo the deal means that Meta cannot use Manus’ intellectual property, nor can it have its founders and employees working for the company. Still, the U.S. tech giant has had a few months to study its models and engineering expertise.

Photonics and high-speed data movement is the next big AI bottleneck

Key considerations

• Investor positioning can change fast
• Volatility remains possible near catalysts
• Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows

Reference reading

• https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
• https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/tencent-is-reportedly-in-talks-to-acquire-manus-from-meta-following-beijing-intervention-company-expects-to-remain-independent-of-chinese-tech-giant#main
• https://www.tomshardware.com/subscription

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