Manus backers plan $2 billion dollar buyback

• The Chinese government ordered the absolute reversal of a recently completed high-profile cross-border artificial intelligence transaction.
• Meta saw its share price trade down to $568.43 in June amid growing regulatory friction and complex operational separation procedures.
• The unwinding reflects China's tightening oversight on the export of sensitive agentic technology, data frameworks, and technical talent.

The early Chinese backers of artificial intelligence startup Manus plan to buy the business back from Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) for $2 billion following a regulatory reversal order.

This government intervention marks an uncommon unwinding of a completed transaction after regulators launched a security review into the original technology transfer.

Meta operationally separated its internal networks from the startup and directed employees to migrate active projects to its own infrastructure.

The co-founders are currently exploring an estimated $1 billion external capital raise to fund the final purchase price.

Beijing asserted regulatory jurisdiction over the transaction because the underlying agentic systems heavily relied on domestic engineering talent and code bases.

The target enterprise originally relocated its operational headquarters from Beijing to Singapore in mid-2025 before agreeing to the initial corporate buyout.