China Bars Manus AI Founders from Leaving as Meta's $2B Acquisition Goes Under Review
China has blocked the CEO and chief scientist of AI startup Manus from leaving the country while regulators review Meta's $2 billion acquisition of the company.
Manus CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao were told they could not leave China pending a national security review, according to the Financial Times. China's commerce ministry opened an investigation shortly after the acquisition was announced in December 2025 to determine whether the deal complied with local laws.
Manus attracted global attention after launching what it called the world's first fully autonomous AI agent, capable of buying property, programming video games, analyzing stocks, and planning travel itineraries. It was widely compared to DeepSeek as China's next major AI breakthrough.
Meta said the acquisition would allow Manus to build on a stronger foundation while keeping the product and decision-making structure intact. But Chinese authorities are scrutinizing whether the sale of China-origin technology to a US company crosses any national security lines.
The travel restrictions signal how seriously Beijing is treating the deal. As Meta, Google, and others race to acquire AI talent and technology globally, cross-border AI acquisitions are becoming a new battleground in the US-China tech rivalry.
