By CHAN HO-HIM, KANIS LEUNG and KELVIN CHAN<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (AP) \u2014 China on Monday blocked U.S. tech giant Meta\u2019s acquisition<\/a> of the artificial intelligence startup Manus, in an unexpected move to reverse a deal that apparently aroused Beijing\u2019s concerns about the transfer of advanced technology.<\/p>\n In a one-line statement, China\u2019s National Development and Reform Commission, the country\u2019s top planning agency, said it was prohibiting the foreign acquisition of Manus and had required all the parties to withdraw from the deal. It did not specifically name Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n Manus, which has Chinese roots but is based in Singapore, provides a general-purpose AI agent that can autonomously carry out sophisticated tasks like coding an app, doing market research or preparing quarterly budgets.<\/p>\n The decision was made by the commission\u2019s Office of the Working Mechanism for Security Review of Foreign Investment in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations, the statement said. It came after Chinese authorities said they were looking into the deal earlier this year.<\/p>\n The commission did not elaborate on the reasons for the ban. The announcement came less than a month before U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s planned visit to Beijing to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in May.<\/p>\n Meta announced in December that it was acquiring Manus, in a rare case of a major U.S. tech group buying an AI company with strong links to China. Its deal with Manus was expected to help expand AI offerings across Meta\u2019s platforms.<\/p>\n