'Draconian development' in Meta-Manus deal draws the line in China's AI race with the U.S.

Manus was hailed by Chinese state media as the "next DeepSeek" soon after its launch in March 2025, months before the startup relocated to Singapore. Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images BEIJING — China's decision to block U.S. tech giant Meta 's $2 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus is being seen by analysts as a warning to tech entrepreneurs. …