China is telling US technology companies to stay away from its artificial intelligence (AI) talent and tools. Beijing is making this message clear by opening a probe into Meta’s acquisition of an AI startup called Manus, analysts told Business Insider.
The investigation was confirmed by China’s Ministry of Commerce during a Thursday press conference. According to a statement translated by Google, the ministry will check whether the deal follows China’s laws on export controls and regulations. In simple terms, China wants to see if important technology or knowledge is being taken out of the country unfairly.
Manus is an AI startup that was launched in China last March by an AI product studio called Butterfly Effect. It became famous after saying it had built a “general-purpose” AI agent that can do tasks with very little human help. In mid-2025, the company moved its base to Singapore.
Meta’s deal with Manus
In December, Meta announced that it would buy Manus and completely cut the startup’s ties with China. The deal is said to be worth more than $2 billion. Meta has said it plans to bring Manus’ top leaders into the company and keep running the AI agent platform separately, while also using the technology in Meta’s own products.
Analysts say the probe is special because it seems aimed at stopping something called “Singapore washing.” This is when companies move from China to Singapore to avoid strict rules. Big names like ByteDance, which owns TikTok, and fast-fashion brand Shein have also shifted their headquarters to Singapore.
Stopping talent and technology from leaving
Experts say China is worried about losing its best AI minds and ideas to the US. “I see Beijing’s probe as an effort to prevent the loss of AI technology and talent to foreign acquisition, especially to the US,” Wendy Chang, a senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, told Business Insider.
For years, the tech fight between the US and China focused on computer chips. Companies like Nvidia have faced US export rules that limit chip sales to China. Now, the fight is moving beyond chips. “The Manus probe shows how the battleground has moved from beyond chips to ‘models, agents, talent, and enterprise deployment,’” Murthy Grandhi, a company profiles analyst at GlobalData, told Business Insider.
Why talent is now the biggest prize
Hanna Dohmen from Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology said the probe is not shocking, but the method is new because it “appears to focus on the movement of talent and IP.” AI talent is in huge demand, with companies like OpenAI, Meta, and Google offering very high pay to attract top experts. It is not clear how long the probe will last if it turns into a full investigation. Past probes by China’s Ministry of Commerce have taken more than a year. Grandhi believes the deal will most likely be approved, but with limits, not fully blocked. “Whatever the outcome may be, this certainly sends a strongsignal to other US or foreign companies that are considering similar acquisitions,” Dohmen added
