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Manus Returns to Independence: The General Agent Comeback Race

On August 12, 2026, QbitAI cited Manus' official announcement: Manus, the general AI Agent product once acquired by Meta for over $2 billion, officially resumed independent operation. This means the Manus-Meta split is entering its final phase, and founder Xiao Hong and team will set out again with millions of global users. Within 18 months, Manus completed a three-stage leap from "phenomenal hit" to "absorbed by a giant" to "buying back its freedom." The general Agent comeback race has officially begun.

Announcement Core: Singapore HQ + Data Compliance​

According to the official Manus announcement, the key points of restoring independence are:

Three Core Messages​

  1. Operating entity change: Manus is about to resume operation as an independent company
  2. Headquarters and data storage: Singapore headquarters, with user data stored in the US and Singapore
  3. Data compliance requirement: As the final step of the split, Manus must delete partial user data generated on or after 2025-12-29 (SGT, Singapore Time)

User Data Migration Timeline​

Time (Singapore Time)Action
Now ~ 2026-08-23 07:59Backup window for affected users
2026-08-23 08:00 ~ 2026-08-24Data deletion execution period
From 2026-08-25 08:00Data recovery portal opens

Manus emphasized that no fees will be charged to affected users during the backup period, and the backup tool supports multiple operations. The announcement also promises users a "comeback gift package" after data recovery — the intent is clear: do everything possible to retain users.

Product History: 18-Month Three-Stage Leap​

The product evolution timeline of Manus is highly dramatic:

2025-03 Phenomenal Launch​

Manus, built by a Chinese startup team, officially launched, positioned as "the world's first general AI Agent." On launch day:

  • Demo video received over 200,000 views on X
  • Invite codes were resold for thousands of dollars on secondary markets
  • Within 7 days, the application waitlist surged to 2 million people
  • It nearly topped the GAIA benchmark at the time, comprehensively surpassing OpenAI's Deep Research
  • The topic trended on Weibo, with the industry calling it "the DeepSeek moment in the Agent space"

2025-03 Same Month: Alibaba Qwen Strategic Partnership​

In the same month as launch, Manus announced a strategic partnership with Alibaba Qwen, planning to implement all Manus features on domestic models and computing platforms based on the Qwen open-source model series. This partnership helped Manus secure compliance and stable computing supply.

2025-11 ARR Breaks $100M​

Within 8 months of launch, Manus' Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) broke $100 million, rated by multiple media outlets as "one of the fastest-growing AI products globally."

2025-12 Meta Acquisition​

At the end of 2025, Meta acquired Manus for over $2 billion. This was the third-largest acquisition in Meta's history, only behind WhatsApp and Scale AI. Founder Xiao Hong became Meta Vice President, reporting to Meta COO. The negotiation was completed in just over 10 days.

2026-06 ARR Climbs to $400-500M / Split Initiated​

By June 2026, Manus' ARR had climbed to $400-500 million. But at the same time, Meta began pushing forward the operational split with Manus, completely stopping data sharing and prohibiting employees from using Manus for internal projects.

2026-08-12 Independence Restored​

The founder team began seeking approximately $1 billion to buy back equity, and on August 12, the news dropped: Manus announced the resumption of independent operation, simultaneously opening the user data backup window, and the split with Meta officially entered its final phase.

Product Form: The General Agent Definer​

Manus' product form has also undergone continuous iteration over the past year. Its core capability boundaries include:

Task Execution Capabilities​

  • Autonomous decomposition and execution of multi-step complex tasks
  • Browser operation, file processing, code generation and other tool calls
  • Long-chain task planning and state management

Validated Use Cases​

  • Generate 8-page PPTs in 10 minutes, with instant editing and Google Slides export (tested 2025-06)
  • Academic research, market research, code writing and other deep tasks
  • Cross-platform data collection and comprehensive analysis

GAIA Benchmark​

As a key benchmark for measuring general Agent capabilities, the GAIA test covers comprehensive dimensions including multimodal understanding, tool use, and reasoning planning. Manus nearly topped the GAIA leaderboard at launch, comprehensively surpassing OpenAI's Deep Research, becoming synonymous with the upper limit of general Agent capabilities.

Market Environment: Agent Is No Longer Manus-Exclusive​

The biggest challenge for Manus' comeback comes from the dramatic change in market landscape. The word "again" in the announcement's "we are preparing a series of new features, hoping once again to break the boundaries of general AI Agent capabilities" carries a lot of meaning —

Reality: All Big Tech Are Building Agents​

  • OpenAI has launched multiple generations of Operator and Deep Research
  • Anthropic's Computer Use capability continues to upgrade
  • Google Gemini Agent mode deeply integrates into Workspace
  • Domestic Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent have all launched Agent product lines
  • DeepSeek, Qwen and other open-source models natively support Agent calls

Reference: OpenClaw Has Already Gone Cold​

The article specifically mentions the once-popular middle-layer peer OpenClaw, whose current state is "completely cold." This shows that the Agent market's middle-layer opportunity window has narrowed, and independent Agent products must either differentiate upward to the extreme or go deep downward into vertical scenarios.

Key Moat Questions​

For Manus to break through again amid the wolves, it needs to answer at least three questions:

  1. Can a product that has not been updated at scale for a year and a half catch up with competitors?
  2. Can the "comeback gift package" for millions of users truly retain heavy users?
  3. Is the independent computing and model supply chain stable after leaving the Meta ecosystem?

Comeback Race Highlights​

Manus' comeback race doesn't start badly: a mature product, a mature team, a base of millions of users. But the real test comes after the "again."

The last sentence of the announcement gives this independence an emotional footnote:

We look forward to continuing to serve you in a new chapter and bringing you surprises.

Closing Thoughts​

From the phenomenal launch in March 2025, to the $2 billion acquisition at the end of 2025, to the renewed independence in August 2026, Manus completed a full "found-acquired-redeemed" curve in 18 months. This is not just Manus' story, but a microcosm of the 2025-2026 AI Agent track — giants need Agent capabilities, Agent startups need giant resources, but when the chemistry between the two is not as expected, parting is inevitable.

Manus' comeback race is essentially the comeback race of the general Agent business model. When all big tech treat Agent as a standard feature, where exactly is the value of independent Agent products? This is the question Manus must answer, and the question the entire general Agent track must answer.