Cease me if you happen to’ve heard this one earlier than: A bit of-known Chinese language startup is making waves globally for a formidable new AI product.
No, we’re not speaking about DeepSeek R1, the AI reasoning mannequin that made waves amongst Western AI circles earlier this 12 months. As an alternative, the new new product du jour known as Manus, and it’s a brand new AI multipurpose agent — that’s, greater than an AI mannequin, it’s an interface for controlling a number of fashions that may go off and, by itself, autonomously, full sophisticated duties like producing reviews or operating dozens of social media accounts on the consumer’s behalf.
If it sounds just like the Deep Analysis modes provided by OpenAI, Google, and others, in addition to OpenAI’s Operator agent and Anthropic’s Laptop Use mode (the latter two of which may, like Manus, take management of a consumer’s pc or applications on it, shifting the cursors and typing to carry out actions inside software program), then congrats — you’ve understood what it goals to supply.
However for action-oriented leaders and choice makers inside enterprises right here within the West and overseas — similar to chief expertise officers, product managers, IT workforce leaders, and extra — what do they should learn about Manus and the capabilities it gives? Learn on to seek out out.
What’s Manus and who’s behind it?
Manus AI was formally introduced on March 5, 2025 on the social community X with a publish from the corporate describing it as “the first general AI agent” that autonomously executes advanced duties somewhat than simply producing concepts.
In line with a South China Morning Put up (SCMP) report, Manus was developed by a Chinese language firm known as Butterfly Impact, which has workplaces in Beijing and Wuhan. The corporate reportedly has only some dozen workers however has quickly gained consideration in China’s AI panorama.
The founding workforce contains entrepreneurs and skilled product managers, led by Xiao Hong, a 33-year-old serial entrepreneur and 2015 graduate of Wuhan’s Huazhong College of Science and Expertise.
Manus workforce. Credit score: Optics Valley of China/Fb
Xiao beforehand constructed WeChat-based functions that have been acquired by bigger firms and later launched Monica.ai, an AI assistant out there as a browser extension and cell app.
On its web site, Manus is claimed to be named for the Latin phrase for “hand,” a nod to the truth that customers can depend on it to carry out actions for them, or, in my phrases, to “lend them a hand.”
How does Manus AI work?
Manus AI is designed as a multi-agent system, which means it combines a number of AI fashions to deal with duties independently.
In contrast to AI chatbots that help customers by offering data, Manus can analysis, analyze knowledge, generate reviews, automate workflows, and even write and deploy code.
In line with X posts by Ji Yichao, co-founder and chief scientist of Manus AI, the system is constructed on Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet — a nine-month-old AI mannequin at this level — and fine-tuned variations of Alibaba’s Qwen fashions.
The workforce is at present testing upgrading Manus to Anthropic’s latest and most performant mannequin, Claude 3.7, which is anticipated to additional improve its reasoning and execution capabilities.
Manus AI operates asynchronously, which means customers can assign duties and stroll away whereas it completes them autonomously. It’s at present in personal beta, with entry granted by way of invitation codes.
How does Manus AI stack up in opposition to the U.S.-based competitors?
One of many largest causes Manus AI has gained traction is its robust benchmark efficiency, beating U.S. agency OpenAI’s personal o3-powered Deep Analysis agent and the “previous state-of-the-art” based on a graph posted on the official Manus web site.
This declare, together with real-world checks, has led some AI energy customers and early adopters to the conclusion that Manus could also be one of the vital succesful autonomous AI brokers out there at the moment.
Past benchmarks, Manus has already confirmed itself on freelance platforms like Upwork and Fiverr and in Kaggle machine studying challenges, efficiently executing advanced real-world duties.
AI influencers have fun Manus’s arrival and spectacular efficiency
Dialog about Manus in media and AI circles took off late final week when customers on the social community X famous that some individuals have been utilizing it to automate the administration of as much as 50 social accounts at one time, in realtime, exhibiting off its capabilities to create fleets of engagement that companies may use for evaluations.
As well as, although this hasn’t but been confirmed for Manus, the identical tech may presumably used for all types of selling and affect campaigns, even political propaganda or disinformation.
However for probably the most half, AI energy customers and influencers within the West have been largely impressed and celebrated Manus’s arrival — awed by their preliminary checks of it as soon as they obtained a few of the scarce beta invitations, or noticed the work of others with entry to the software.
“This AI agent called ‘Manus’ is going crazy viral in China right now… It’s like Deep Research + Operator + Claude Computer combined, and it’s REALLY good.”
Cheung personally examined Manus and located that it:
Created and deployed a biography web site about himself, with 100% accuracy and real-time knowledge retrieval.
Discovered high rental spots in San Francisco primarily based on crime charges, AI business presence, and entrepreneurship density.
Developed a full AI course, producing eight chapters of content material, together with instruments, use instances, and prompts.
He obtained 500 invite codes from the Manus workforce and has been dolling them out to his subscribers and readers.
Former Googler and AI-focused YouTuber Bilawal Sidhu shared a hands-on video assessment, calling Manus “the closest thing I have seen to an autonomous AI agent.”
“It’s like you’re standing over the shoulder of somebody using a computer… asking them what to do at the highest level, and it basically does it for you.”
Sidhu examined Manus on varied duties, together with:
Researching places—scanning Google Maps and information sources to advocate one of the best locations primarily based on rules, accessibility, and security.
Creating video functions—automating video results similar to ASCII artwork and real-time filters.
Extracting business insights—pulling knowledge from Reddit, Twitter, and different sources to generate complete reviews.
Sidhu emphasised that Manus breaks down advanced workflows and executes them step-by-step, making it one of the vital autonomous AI brokers out there at the moment.
Andrew Wilkinson, co-founder of the startup exit supplier and acquirer Tiny, wrote on X that “It’s absolutely insane. I feel like I just time travelled six months into the future. I threw it a zip file of 20 applicants for a CEO job and it did a deep dive on each, one by one…”
Large questions on Manus’s future stay
Regardless of the joy, questions and issues have emerged about Manus AI’s true capabilities.
In line with the South China Morning Put up, only a few individuals have been capable of take a look at Manus AI due to extreme server shortages following its sudden rise to fame.
Zhang Tao, Manus AI’s product associate, admitted in a social media publish: “The current invite-only mechanism is due to genuinely limited server capacity at this stage… The team underestimated the enthusiasm of the public response, and our server resources were only planned for a demonstration level.”
This lack of availability has fueled hypothesis that Manus AI is likely to be utilizing shortage advertising and marketing techniques to generate hype. Invitation codes for Manus have been reportedly being offered on China’s second-hand market Xianyu, resulting in frustration amongst potential customers.
In different phrases, some imagine it’s good for influencers seeking to construct up a following by way of spammy lists and ideas posts, however not so good as different instruments at work like improvement. Even former VentureBeat author and present TechCrunch-er Kyle Wiggers stated in a chunk over the weekend, “Manus probably isn’t China’s second ‘DeepSeek moment’.”
Is Manus AI the true deal?
In contrast to DeepSeek R1, which developed its personal basis mannequin, Manus AI depends on present massive language fashions (LLMs), similar to Claude and Qwen. This has led some critics to query how a lot of Manus’s expertise is really unique.
Yichao Ji acknowledged this within the official introduction video, stating: “Manus operates as a multi-agent system powered by several distinct models.”
Regardless of this, Ji emphasised that Manus AI is dedicated to open-source improvement and can launch a few of its fashions to the general public later this 12 months.
Presently in personal beta, Manus AI is barely out there through invitation codes. The corporate plans to broaden entry quickly, however server limitations might delay a full public launch. An open-source element is deliberate, permitting builders to combine components of its AI system.
Whereas some view Manus AI as a breakthrough in autonomous AI brokers, others stay skeptical about its true capabilities, enterprise mannequin, and scalability. Because the hype round Manus AI continues to develop, the query stays: Is that this the subsequent DeepSeek second, or simply one other overhyped AI product?
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