China Boosts AI Startup Manus as Potential Rival to DeepSeek and Western AI Giants

Beijing boosts AI startup Manus, as China looks for the next DeepSeek

BEIJING, March 21 (Reuters) - Chinese artificial intelligence startup Manus on Tuesday registered its China-facing AI assistant and was featured for the first time in a state media broadcast, highlighting Beijing's strategy of boosting domestic AI firms that have received overseas recognition. Since China's DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley by releasing AI models comparable to its U.S. competitors but developed at a fraction of the cost, Chinese investors have been on the lookout for the next domestic startup with the potential to upend the global tech order. Some have pointed to Manus. The company went viral on X a few weeks ago by releasing what it claimed to be the world's first general AI agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously, with much less prompting required compared to AI chatbots like ChatGPT and DeepSeek. Beijing is now showing signs that it will support Manus' rollout within China, echoing its response to DeepSeek's success. State broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday devoted television coverage to Manus for the first time, publishing a video on the difference between its AI agent and DeepSeek's AI chatbot. Beijing's municipal government on Tuesday announced that a Chinese version of an earlier Manus product, an AI assistant called Monica, had completed the registration required for generative AI apps in China, clearing an important regulatory hurdle. Chinese regulators require all generative AI applications released in the country to abide by strict rules, partly designed to ensure these products do not generate content considered sensitive or damaging by Beijing. Last week Manus announced a strategic partnership with the team behind tech giant Alibaba's Qwen AI models. The move could bolster the domestic roll-out of Manus' AI agent, which is currently only available to users with invite codes and has a waiting list of 2 million, according to the startup. Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Stephen Coates Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

Beijing boosts AI startup Manus, as China looks for the next DeepSeek

Chinese artificial intelligence startup Manus on Tuesday registered its China-facing AI assistant and was featured for the first time in a state media broadcast, highlighting Beijing's strategy of boosting domestic AI firms that have received overseas recognition. Since China's DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley by releasing AI models comparable to its U.S. competitors but developed at a fraction of the cost, Chinese investors have been on the lookout for the next domestic startup with the potential to upend the global tech order. Some have pointed to Manus. The company went viral on X a few weeks ago by releasing what it claimed to be the world's first general AI agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously, with much less prompting required compared to AI chatbots like ChatGPT and DeepSeek. Beijing is now showing signs that it will support Manus' rollout within China, echoing its response to DeepSeek's success. State broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday devoted television coverage to Manus for the first time, publishing a video on the difference between its AI agent and DeepSeek's AI chatbot. Beijing's municipal government on Tuesday announced that a Chinese version of an earlier Manus product, an AI assistant called Monica, had completed the registration required for generative AI apps in China, clearing an important regulatory hurdle. Chinese regulators require all generative AI applications released in the country to abide by strict rules, partly designed to ensure these products do not generate content considered sensitive or damaging by Beijing. Last week Manus announced a strategic partnership with the team behind tech giant Alibaba's Qwen AI models. The move could bolster the domestic roll-out of Manus' AI agent, which is currently only available to users with invite codes and has a waiting list of 2 million, according to the startup.

AI Agent Developer Manus Gains Support of Chinese Government | PYMNTS.com

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup Manus, which went viral on X a few weeks ago, is reportedly being promoted by the Chinese government. Manus, which offers a general AI agent that it reportedly claims can make decisions and execute tasks with less prompting than its competitors require, was featured in a state media broadcast, Reuters reported Friday (March 21). The television coverage signals that the Chinese government will support the rollout of Manus within the country, according to the report. In addition, the Beijing municipal government announced Thursday (March 20) that a Chinese version of another Manus product, an AI assistant called Monica, completed the registration that China requires for generative AI apps, the report said. The company's AI agent is currently available by invitation only and has a waiting list of 2 million, per the report. An AI agent is software that automates tasks but also acts like an adaptable knowledge worker, PYMNTS reported in January. AI agents can understand context, make decisions, adjust their approach based on changing circumstances and carry out actions on behalf of users. Deloitte said Wednesday (March 19) that it unveiled a platform that offers a suite of AI agents that are ready to deploy and will perform business functions. The Zora AI by Deloitte portfolio currently includes functional agents for finance, and it will be expanded to include others for human capital, supply chain, procurement, sales and marketing, and customer service. On March 11, OpenAI launched a new set of APIs and tools designed to help developers and enterprises build, deploy and scale AI agents. The company said that while it already offered AI model capabilities that can support AI agents, it added these new tools in response to customers' calls for an easier way to turn these capabilities into AI agents. It was reported March 4 that Amazon Web Services (AWS) formed a new group focused on agentic AI and that AWS CEO Matt Garman said the technology could be "the next multibillion business for AWS." "We have the opportunity to help our customers innovate even faster and unlock more possibilities, and I firmly believe that AI agents are core to this next wave of innovation," Garman wrote in an internal email, according to a Reuters report.

Beijing boosts AI startup Manus, as China looks for the next DeepSeek

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese artificial intelligence startup Manus on Tuesday registered its China-facing AI assistant and was featured for the first time in a state media broadcast, highlighting Beijing's strategy of boosting domestic AI firms that have received overseas recognition. Since China's DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley by releasing AI models comparable to its U.S. competitors but developed at a fraction of the cost, Chinese investors have been on the lookout for the next domestic startup with the potential to upend the global tech order. Some have pointed to Manus. The company went viral on X a few weeks ago by releasing what it claimed to be the world's first general AI agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously, with much less prompting required compared to AI chatbots like ChatGPT and DeepSeek. Beijing is now showing signs that it will support Manus' rollout within China, echoing its response to DeepSeek's success. State broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday devoted television coverage to Manus for the first time, publishing a video on the difference between its AI agent and DeepSeek's AI chatbot. Beijing's municipal government on Tuesday announced that a Chinese version of an earlier Manus product, an AI assistant called Monica, had completed the registration required for generative AI apps in China, clearing an important regulatory hurdle. Chinese regulators require all generative AI applications released in the country to abide by strict rules, partly designed to ensure these products do not generate content considered sensitive or damaging by Beijing. Last week Manus announced a strategic partnership with the team behind tech giant Alibaba's Qwen AI models. The move could bolster the domestic roll-out of Manus' AI agent, which is currently only available to users with invite codes and has a waiting list of 2 million, according to the startup. (Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Stephen Coates)