Manus revenue rockets 5x to $500M ahead of $2B forced buyback

For investors, the Manus saga is a stark display of how regulatory risk can create rapid value shifts. The startup's revenue run rate quintupled within months under Meta's wing, from $100 million to up to half a billion dollars, justifying a $2 billion buyback price tag. Yet the forced sale raises questions about how much of that growth is sustainable once operational ties are severed and whether a future Hong Kong IPO can replicate the premium of a U.S. tech acquisition.

A consortium of early Chinese investors, including HSG, ZhenFund, and Tencent, is orchestrating a $2 billion buyback of Singapore-based AI startup Manus from Meta, following a regulatory directive from Beijing forcing Meta to unwind its acquisition. The deal, reported by The Information and sourced from multiple outlets, marks a dramatic reversal of Meta's December 2025 purchase aimed at bolstering its agentic AI capabilities. Manus, which specializes in autonomous AI agents capable of executing complex tasks with minimal human intervention, has seen explosive growth despite the regulatory turmoil, with annualized revenue run rate soaring from $100 million at acquisition to between $400 million and $500 million in recent weeks. The forced divestiture underscores the intensifying tech cold war between the U.S. and China, where Beijing is clamping down on foreign ownership of strategically sensitive AI firms, even when based in third countries like Singapore, to prevent technology leakage and maintain sovereignty over advanced AI development. The buyback plan, still unconfirmed by involved companies, highlights how regulatory actions are reshaping global tech deal structures and forcing investors to navigate an increasingly fragmented landscape.

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A consortium of early Chinese investors, including HSG, ZhenFund, and Tencent, is orchestrating a $2 billion buyback of Singapore-based AI startup Manus from Meta, following a regulatory directive from Beijing forcing Meta to unwind its acquisition.

The regulatory backdrop is critical: in April 2026, Chinese authorities ordered Meta to divest its controlling stake in Manus, part of a broader campaign to restrict U.S. influence over AI startups with ties to China. Meta's rapid compliance—installing internal firewalls, halting all data sharing, and separating operations—shows the legal and reputational risks of defying such orders. This echoes earlier actions against other cross-border tech deals, where national security concerns have been weaponized to unwind transactions. For Meta, the divestiture is a blow to its AI ambitions, as it sought to integrate Manus's agentic AI technology into its own ecosystem to compete with autonomous AI offerings from rivals. However, the forced sale may have a silver lining: the $2 billion price tag, if realized, would represent a significant return on Meta's initial investment, especially given Manus's revenue trajectory. Yet the rapidity of the reversal raises questions about due diligence in cross-border AI acquisitions and the extent to which regulatory risks are being priced into deals.