Meta prepares to unwind its $2 billion Manus acquisition after China’s block

Meta is preparing to unwind its approximately $2 billion acquisition of the agentic AI startup Manus after China’s National Development and Reform Commission formally ordered the deal’s cancellation on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Beijing has given Meta and Manus a preliminary deadline of several weeks to reverse the transaction and fully restore Manus’s Chinese assets to their original state. Neither Meta nor Manus had publicly confirmed the unwind preparation at the time of publication.

The new detail from the Journal is operationally significant. Monday’s NDRC cancellation order, established that China had issued a formal prohibition on the deal.

Tuesday’s reporting establishes that the prohibition carries a concrete compliance deadline and specifies the required outcome: restoration of Manus’s Chinese assets to their pre-acquisition state. That is a more specific and more demanding requirement than a simple cancellation ...