China vetoes Meta’s $2B Manus deal after months-long probe

China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said on Monday it has blocked Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of Manus, an agentic AI startup founded by Chinese engineers that relocated to Singapore before Mark Zuckerberg scooped it up late last year . The move marks one of China’s most significant interventions in a cross-border deal, one that extends well beyond U.S.-China tensions and into the broader AI industry. …