China’s AI Agent Manus Gains Traction Amid Rising Demand for Autonomous AI
Manus, a new autonomous AI agent developed in China, has garnered significant attention after trending on Weibo on March 6. Designed by a team led by entrepreneur Xiao Hong, Manus distinguishes itself from traditional AI assistants by executing complex tasks independently and delivering complete results, rather than merely providing suggestions. A demonstration highlighted its ability to screen resumes akin to a human intern. The system achieved state-of-the-art performance across all difficulty levels of the GAIA benchmark, which evaluates real-world problem-solving capabilities. Currently in beta testing, access is restricted via invite codes, with reports indicating high demand that has driven secondary market prices for these codes up to RMB 100,000. This development signals a potential shift in China’s AI sector towards autonomous agents, following the recent rise of domestic model DeepSeek. It also aligns with global trends, such as OpenAI’s enterprise agent offerings. Xiao Hong previously founded Monica, an AI assistant popular in overseas markets. The emergence of Manus underscores intensifying competition in the AI industry as companies move beyond standard chatbot functionalities to more capable, autonomous systems.
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China’s AI Agent Manus Gains Traction Amid Rising Demand for Autonomous AI
Manus, a new autonomous AI agent developed in China, has garnered significant attention after trending on Weibo on March 6. Designed by a team led by entrepreneur Xiao Hong, Manus distinguishes itself from traditional AI assistants by executing complex tasks independently and delivering complete results, rather than merely providing suggestions. A demonstration highlighted its ability to screen resumes akin to a human intern. The system achieved state-of-the-art performance across all difficulty levels of the GAIA benchmark, which evaluates real-world problem-solving capabilities. Currently in beta testing, access is restricted via invite codes, with reports indicating high demand that has driven secondary market prices for these codes up to RMB 100,000. This development signals a potential shift in China’s AI sector towards autonomous agents, following the recent rise of domestic model DeepSeek. It also aligns with global trends, such as OpenAI’s enterprise agent offerings. Xiao Hong previously founded Monica, an AI assistant popular in overseas markets. The emergence of Manus underscores intensifying competition in the AI industry as companies move beyond standard chatbot functionalities to more capable, autonomous systems.
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