Manus AI’s ‘De-China’ Playbook Is a Trap: Catherine Thorbecke

When Chinese startup Manus previewed an artificial intelligence agent earlier this year, it went mega-viral. It came on the heels of DeepSeek, when global excitement over China’s AI breakthroughs was at a fever pitch, and nobody wanted to miss out on the next surprise hit.

Now, Manus is doing everything it can to sever any ties to the mainland. It relocated its headquarters to Singapore, and its three co-founders have made the move abroad as well. Butterfly Effect, the company behind Manus, reportedly eliminated all its China-based jobs last week. It has also scrubbed content from domestic social media platforms Weibo ...