Meta buys AI startup Manus, adding millions of paying users
faced unexpected challenges earlier this year while preparing to roll out a new model, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg went on a recruiting blitz to build an AI dream team, offering top executives and researchers multimillion-dollar paydays.The company acquired a 49% stake in startup Scale AI that valued Scale at $29 billion, and Scale founder Alexandr Wang joined the social media giant as its chief AI officer.The Manus acquisition appears to be Meta’s first major purchase of an AI startup operating an frontier AI model. Manus’s capabilities are regularly tested by top benchmarks and compared against those of AI models including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini and DeepSeek’s R1.Earlier this year, Manus raised $75 million in a fundraising round led by venture firm Benchmark.
As part of the deal, Benchmark’s general partner Chetan Puttagunta joined the company’s board.In December, the startup announced it had crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, eight months after it launched.“Joining Meta allows us to build on a stronger, more sustainable foundation without changing how Manus works or how decisions are made,” Xiao Hong, chief executive of Manus, said in an announcement Monday. Xiao is one of two Chinese co-founders of the company.Write to Angel Au-Yeung at [email protected] all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint.
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