Facebook owner Meta presses ahead with Manus merger despite Beijing probe
Some Manus employees in Singapore move into Meta’s offices and have been given corporate accounts and other access, two sources said
Meta Platforms is moving forward with integrating the newly acquired artificial intelligence agent start-up Manus, according to two sources, despite Beijing’s probe into the US$2 billion deal.
Some members of the Manus team in Singapore had moved into Facebook parent Meta’s offices and were granted Meta corporate accounts and other access, one of the sources said.
Meta was also offering its employees the opportunity to transfer to Manus, preferring Chinese-speaking staff, a second source said.
The merger not only involves talent but also operations. Meta recently embedded Manus into its Ads Manager so that advertisers on the platform could get performance analytics and optimisation advice.
Neither Meta nor Manus immediately responded to requests for comment on Thursday.
The integration has proceeded despite an ongoing investigation by the Chinese government.
In early January, just days after the deal was announced, the Ministry of Commerce said it would review and investigate the deal to assess whether it was consistent with China’s regulations on export controls, technology exports and external investments.