China set to lift travel ban on Manus founders as Meta deal unwinds

In short: China is preparing to lift a travel ban on the founders of Manus as the company moves to undo Meta’s $2 billion acquisition.

What happened

Chinese authorities plan to soon remove restrictions that stopped key Manus leaders from leaving the country, according to people familiar with the situation. Manus is an AI agent company, meaning it builds software that can take actions for users, a bit like a digital assistant that can carry out tasks instead of only answering questions.

Manus chief executive Xiao Hong recently told staff he expects to return to Singapore soon, where the company is based. Xiao and other leaders, including chief scientist Ji Yichao, were reportedly stopped from traveling after they were called to Beijing in March for an investigation into Manus’s sale to Meta.

China wanted to check whether investment rules were broken. In April, regulators blocked the takeover and ordered Meta to unwind the deal, meaning to reverse it and separate the two businesses.

This week, Manus said it would soon operate as an independent business again. The company said this step is needed to meet regulatory requirements in some parts of the world.

The planned unwind would involve many of Manus’s earlier backers, including Tencent, ZhenFund, and HSG, plus company management, buying the company back at about the same $2 billion valuation. Tencent is expected to become the biggest shareholder, but still only with a minority stake, and Manus would keep operating from Singapore.

Why it matters

This story shows how government rules can shape where AI companies can be owned and run. For customers, employees, and investors, it affects whether products keep improving, where teams can work from, and how freely founders can manage a global business.

Source: Financial Times