MiroMind to suspend China, Hong Kong, Macau services May 12

MiroMind, the AI research company founded by Shanda Group founder Chen Tianqiao, has notified users that its intelligent agent service MiroThinker (web and mobile apps) will be suspended in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau starting May 12. The company hasn't set a date for resumption. MiroMind's website will remain unaffected. A Chinese financial outlet, First Financial, confirmed the authenticity of the email with MiroMind.

The suspension follows regulatory pressure after the Manus incident. On April 27, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) blocked Meta's acquisition of the Chinese AI startup Manus. But regulators had already contacted Chen's team in March, warning them not to unilaterally transfer technology out of the country. Chen responded by fully isolating MiroMind's US and China operations, banning cross-border sharing of code and data, with each region run independently by local teams. He told Bloomberg Businessweek: "After the Manus incident, we had to fully implement a firewall. The international environment is extremely complex, and companies really have no choice but to pick sides." The shutdown of MiroThinker in China is the firewall cutting into the product.

MiroMind is registered in Singapore and funded entirely by Chen and his family, with no external shareholders. Its China business operates through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Shanda Intelligent Decision (Beijing), and the two companies have a commissioned development relationship. Separately, the company is dealing with an intellectual property dispute with early core employee Dai Jifeng. Dai left in January and negotiations over IP rights and talent poaching broke down. In April, both sides publicly accused each other via The Washington Post and internal bulletins. MiroMind has accused him of "breaching business integrity" and reserved the right to take legal action.