China Orders Block: Meta Reportedly Preparing to Withdraw Manus Acquisition

(Central News Agency, New York, 27th, External Wire) The Wall Street Journal reported today, citing people familiar with the matter, that Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, is preparing to withdraw its acquisition of AI startup Manus. This follows a move by Chinese authorities to veto the transaction on national security grounds. Beijing is strengthening its scrutiny of U.S. capital investment in Chinese startups, particularly in cutting-edge technology sectors. Earlier today, China ordered Meta to withdraw the more than $2 billion acquisition of Manus. Manus, headquartered in Singapore with a Chinese background, had early investors including the well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm Benchmark. The report pointed out that once Meta withdraws from the transaction, early investors in Manus from the Asian side, including Tencent, HSG, and ZhenFund, all intend to cooperate with subsequent operations. It is reported that Chinese authorities gave the two companies a preliminary deadline of several weeks to fully restore the Chinese assets of Manus to their state before the merger, and must also delete any data or technology transferred from Meta. The report said that if the transaction cannot be fully restored, Chinese regulators are also considering imposing fines on Manus and Meta. Reuters reported that neither company has immediately responded to requests for comment. (Compiled by Ji Jinling) 1150428