News of Meta’s Manus is receiving mixed reception in Washington and Beijing

Meta’s 2 billion acquisition of AI support platform Manus is unsurprisingly caught in a regulatory battle – but not because of US regulators. He appears to be confident that the deal is legal even though there were previous doubts about Benchmark’s business in Manus. Chinese authorities, however, say not as sanguineaccording to the Financial Times.

When Benchmark led funding for Manus earlier this year, the investment sparked controversy. US Senator John Cornyn complained about the deal on X, and the investment triggered inquiries from the US Treasury Department about new rules to restrict American funding to Chinese AI companies.

Those concerns were a key factor in Manus’ move from Beijing to Singapore — leading to the company’s “slow withdrawal from China,” as a Chinese professor described it on WeChat last week.

Now the tables have turned. Chinese officials say they are reviewing whether the Meta deal runs afoul of technology export controls, which could give Beijing unprecedented leverage. In particular, they are examining whether Manus needed an export license when it moved its main fleet from China to Singapore – a move that seems so common it has led to it being dubbed “Singapore washing.” A soon Wall Street Journal article he speculates that China has “minor tools to affect the deal Manus made in Singapore,” but that assessment may have been premature.

The concern in Beijing is that the deal could encourage many Chinese startups to move to home management. Winston Ma, a professor at New York University School of Law and a partner at Dragon Capital, told the Journal that if the deal closes well, “It makes a new way for young AI startups in China. “

History shows that Beijing can act. China used similar export tactics to intervene in Trump’s attempt to ban TikTok during his first term. The Chinese professor also warned on WeChat that the founders of Manus could face prosecution if they transmit the banned technology without permission.

Meanwhile, some US experts say the purchase is a victory over Washington’s restrictions, arguing that it shows that Chinese AI talent is being lost to American natural resources. Another expert told the FT that the deal shows “the US AI environment here is very attractive.”

It’s too early to know if this affects Meta’s plans to integrate Manus’s AI software into its products, but the $2 billion deal may be more complicated than anyone expected.