China has ordered the parties behind Meta's Manus deal to withdraw the acquisition, turning what looked like a completed AI startup purchase into a live geopolitical and regulatory problem.

What China confirmed

In a brief statement published Monday, the office handling China's foreign investment security review said it had made a decision prohibiting foreign investment in the Manus project and required the parties to revoke the acquisition transaction. The statement was issued under the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner.

NPR reported that the agency did not publicly spell out a reason for the ban. TechCrunch separately reported that the order forces Meta to unwind its roughly $2 billion acquisition of Manus, an agentic AI startup founded by Chinese engineers that later shifted its base to Singapore.

Why it matters

This is a notable escalation in how China is treating cross-border AI deals. Manus is not just another software startup: it became well known for AI agents that can complete multi-step computer tasks with limited supervision, the kind of capability large platforms increasingly want to own.

Meta told TechCrunch that the transaction complied fully with applicable law and that it expects an appropriate resolution. For now, the conservative read is simple: China has officially moved to block foreign control of Manus, and one of the most closely watched AI acquisitions of the past few months is no longer settled.