China blocks Meta's planned purchase of AI startup Manus

China's National Development and Reform Commission blocked a planned acquisition by Meta. The target was Manus, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup. Meta is an American technology company. The decision was announced on April 27.

An acquisition is a purchase of one company by another. Blocking it means the Chinese authority will not allow the deal to close. The National Development and Reform Commission is the state body that steers major economic plans and, in cases like this, can stop a foreign purchase. A startup is a young company, and Manus is identified as an artificial intelligence firm based in China.

Artificial intelligence is computing that performs tasks such as language and image generation that once needed a person. Governments have treated AI companies as strategic assets. A block on a foreign buyer keeps the firm under Chinese jurisdiction rather than moving it into an American parent. The report does not give the price Meta had offered.

Meta owns large social platforms and has been spending heavily on AI. Manus is the specific startup named in the ban. The report does not describe Manus's products or its founders. It states the buyer, the target, the Chinese agency, and the outcome.

Cross-border technology deals often need approval in the seller's country as well as the buyer's. Here the seller's side stopped the transaction. No appeal or revised offer is mentioned. The acquisition remains blocked on the terms of this announcement.

Meta will not buy Manus under the decision of China's National Development and Reform Commission. The startup is a Chinese artificial intelligence company. The buyer is American. The block was announced on April 27.