Meta's acquisition of Manus, the AI agent startup that's been making waves, just hit a serious Chinese regulatory snag — and its two top executives are effectively grounded in Beijing.
The Financial Times reports that China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) summoned Manus CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao for a meeting this month, questioning whether Manus's domestic entity completed its foreign direct investment reporting as required after the ownership change. After the meeting, the pair was told they couldn't leave the country during the review period, though they're free to move around within China. The FT's report adds crucial specifics to an earlier New York Times story about executives facing travel restrictions: the people in question are Xiao and Ji, the questioning body is the NDRC, and the border-control measures are directly tied to this review. Regulators, it seems, are tightening the screws on this deal from multiple directions.