When Meta announced it was dropping over $2 billion to acquire Manus, heads turned across Silicon Valley. Here’s the thing though this wasn’t some random splurge on an experimental AI project. Meta was buying a ticket to something it desperately needed: an AI product that actually makes money. Honestly, it makes a lot of sense when you understand what’s really going on behind the scenes.
Why Meta Buys Manus AI?
Let’s be straightforward: Meta’s been investing massive amounts of money into AI infrastructure we’re talking over $60 billion in recent years. Most of that cash went into computing power, building sophisticated models, and creating backend systems. But here’s the problem that kept Zuckerberg up at night Meta didn’t have a consumer-facing product actually generating real revenue from all that investment.
Enter Manus. This Singapore-based AI startup (founded in China as Butterfly Effect before relocating) had already cracked something. Just eight months after launching in spring 2025, Manus hit an annual recurring revenue of $100 million and a revenue run rate of $125 million. That’s not theoretical money. That’s real people paying real dollars every month for something that works.
Think about it from Meta’s perspective. While Meta AI remains completely free, Manus proved consumers are genuinely willing to pay for AI that delivers practical value. That’s the golden ticket Meta couldn’t ignore. The acquisition also brought top talent Manus’s CEO Xiao Hong (who goes by “Red”) and his approximately 100-person team know how to build AI products that people actually want to use. This falls perfectly into Meta’s playbook of acquiring not just technology, but the brilliant minds behind it.
Meta’s Long-Term Vision Using This Company
Here’s where it gets really interesting. Meta doesn’t just want another free chatbot floating around. The company wants to weave AI agents deep into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger-basically every platform where billions of people hang out daily.
The vision is simple but ambitious: imagine your WhatsApp assistant could screen job candidates, plan your vacation, analyze your investment portfolio, and handle complex research-all without you lifting a finger. That’s the dream here. Meta sees what’s working in China with WeChat, where AI assistants are integrated into messaging apps, and wants to replicate that model with WhatsApp.
By owning Manus, Meta gets an execution layer a proven system that can turn advanced AI capabilities into something that actually works in the real world. This isn’t about replacing humans. It’s about creating a companion assistant that makes your life easier and, critically, creates new ways for Meta to make money from its platforms.
There’s also the hardware angle. Meta’s been pushing Reality Labs and smart glasses. Manus could provide the brain behind those future glasses-AI agents that can interact with the physical world through your everyday devices.
about Manus–
What Manus AI actually do ?
Okay, cut through all the tech jargon. Manus is an AI agent-think of it as a super-smart digital assistant that can take instructions and execute complex tasks without needing you to babysit it. It’s not just a chatbot that talks back to you. It actually does things.
You can ask Manus to research a topic and compile findings, write code, analyze data, screen resumes from job candidates, create travel itineraries with all the logistics figured out, or analyze stock portfolios. Since launch, it has processed over 147 trillion tokens and powered the creation of over 80 million virtual computers. In simpler terms? A ton of people have been using it to get real work done.
The magic is that Manus can handle general tasks across different domains. You’re not limited to one specific function. It’s designed to be versatile enough to help with research, automation, and basically any work that requires thinking and execution.
How Manus AI Makes Money ?
Manus operates a subscription model-you know, like Netflix, but for AI agents.
People and businesses pay monthly or yearly membership fees to access Manus. Your subscription covers unlimited AI agent tasks instead of paying per request. Want to run five research tasks? Twenty customer analyses? Doesn’t matter. Your subscription covers it all.
The company proved this model actually works at scale. They hit that $100 million in annual recurring revenue in just eight months because enough people found the service valuable enough to keep paying for it. That’s not hype. That’s real business metrics that caught Meta’s attention.
Conclusion:-
For Meta, the acquisition makes perfect sense. Instead of building everything from scratch and hoping people pay for it, they’re acquiring a proven monetization engine. They get the subscription infrastructure, the paying customer base, and the team that knows how to keep people happy enough to keep their credit cards charged every month.
This deal marks a turning point in the AI industry. It’s not just about who has the smartest AI anymore. It’s about who can actually make money from it. Meta just proved they’re serious about both.
Hi Friends, This is Swapnil, I am a content writer at startupsunion.com