Researchers in China have developed Manus AI, hailed as the world’s first fully autonomous AI agent. According to its creators, Manus is capable of executing tasks independently, such as creating a website from scratch, with minimal human intervention. Some view Manus as a significant advancement in Chinese AI technology, while others are skeptical of its potential. The launch of Manus sparked discussions within the AI community, with opinions divided on its capabilities and concerns raised regarding privacy issues. The development of Manus was attributed to the Chinese startup Monica, a subsidiary of The Butterfly Effect. Unlike traditional chatbots, Manus is designed to handle complex tasks from start to finish based on a single user prompt. The agent’s capabilities include analyzing stock trends, extracting data from the web, and generating websites interactively. Manus operates in the cloud, allowing it to continue working even when users are offline. The company claims that Manus surpasses OpenAI’s Deep Research model on the GAIA benchmark. Access to Manus is currently limited and requires an invitation for testing. Contrary to claims that Manus was developed from scratch, some early users suggest that it is based on existing models such as Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet. The comparison between Manus and DeepSeek, another Chinese AI model, has drawn attention, reminiscent of the earlier disruption caused by DeepSeek in the market.
Manus is being hailed as China’s technological breakthrough, sparking comparisons to the country’s “Sputnik moment.” With claims of full autonomy, Manus is seen as a significant player in the AI race, narrowing the gap with the US. AI policy researcher Dean Ball argues that Manus surpasses previous achievements, marking a new frontier in AI capabilities. While some experts praise Manus as a groundbreaking tool that could revolutionize coding, others express skepticism about its accuracy and potential pitfalls. Concerns about data privacy and transparency also loom over Manus, prompting calls for better industry standards. Despite its promise, Manus faces scrutiny over its ties to China and the implications for AI security and governance.
