Beijing blocked Meta's $2B Manus deal — now Tencent is swooping in
tencent is acquiring a majority stake in ai agent startup manus for $2 billion after regulators blocked meta. this signals china's tightening grip on strategic ai assets and intensifies the sino-us tech arms race.
tencent is in talks to acquire a controlling interest in manus, a high-revenue ai agent startup, at the same $2 billion valuation meta previously agreed to before chinese regulators intervened. beijing blocked meta's original purchase and banned foreign investment in the company, citing national security concerns and characterizing the deal as a threat to china's tech base. despite the exit ban on founder xiao hong, tencent, zhenfund, and hsg are proceeding with the deal while us investor benchmark steps back. the transaction underscores how the ai arms race is reshaping global m&a, forcing us giants out and consolidating critical chinese technology under domestic control.