Beijing to Release Manus, DeepSeek’s Next Generation

The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
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Beijing to Release Manus, DeepSeek’s Next Generation

The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2025. (Reuters)

Chinese artificial intelligence startup Manus on Thursday registered its China-facing AI assistant and was featured for the first time in a state media broadcast, highlighting Beijing's strategy of boosting domestic AI firms that have received overseas recognition.

Since China's DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley by releasing AI models comparable to its US competitors but developed at a fraction of the cost, Chinese investors have been on the lookout for the next domestic startup with the potential to upend the global tech order.

Some have pointed to Manus. The company went viral on X a few weeks ago by releasing what it claimed to be the world's first general AI agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously, with much less prompting required compared to AI chatbots like ChatGPT and DeepSeek.

Beijing is now showing signs that it will support Manus' rollout within China, echoing its response to DeepSeek’s success. State broadcaster CCTV on Thursday devoted television coverage to Manus for the first time, publishing a video on the difference between its AI agent and DeepSeek's AI chatbot.

Beijing's municipal government on Thursday announced that a Chinese version of an earlier Manus product, an AI assistant called Monica, had completed the registration required for generative AI apps in China, clearing an important regulatory hurdle.

Chinese regulators require all generative AI applications released in the country to abide by strict rules, partly designed to ensure these products do not generate content considered sensitive or damaging by Beijing.

Last week Manus announced a strategic partnership with the team behind tech giant Alibaba's Qwen AI models.

The move could bolster the domestic roll-out of Manus' AI agent, which is currently only available to users with invite codes and has a waiting list of 2 million, according to the startup.

In the markets, Hong Kong and China stocks declined on Friday and registered weekly losses, as tech shares tumbled on mounting profit-taking pressure.

The Hang Seng Tech Index slid 3.4% on Friday, and Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 2.1%. Both indexes registered back-to-back weekly losses for the first time since January.

In Hong Kong, chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation slid 7.5% to a one-month low, while market heavyweight Alibaba lost 3.5%.

China's blue-chip CSI300 index dipped 1.5%, ending the week with a 2.3% loss in its largest retreat since January. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.3%.

The tech sector also paced declines onshore. Mainland's tech-focused Star 50 Index dropped 2.1% and AI-related shares slipped 3%.

"It's normal to see some pullbacks at these levels after such a strong rally this year - this doesn't even qualify as a correction," said Dickie Wong, Kingston Securities executive director.

The optimism around China's “two sessions,” DeepSeek and President Xi Jinping's meeting with tech leaders has already been priced in with major indexes at current levels, prompting investors to take profit, he added.

The Hang Seng Tech index has lost 4.1% this week in a second week of decline - the longest losing streak since the opening weeks of the year.

However, the gauge is still up 26% year-to-date.



Google Hires Windsurf Execs in $2.4 Billion Deal to Advance AI Coding Ambitions

FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
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Google Hires Windsurf Execs in $2.4 Billion Deal to Advance AI Coding Ambitions

FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Alphabet's Google has hired several key staff members from AI code generation startup Windsurf, the companies announced on Friday, in a surprise move following an attempt by its rival OpenAI to acquire the startup.

Google is paying $2.4 billion in license fees as part of the deal to use some of Windsurf's technology under non-exclusive terms, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. Google will not take a stake or any controlling interest in Windsurf, the person added.

Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and some members of the coding tool's research and development team will join Google's DeepMind AI division, Reuters reported.

The deal followed months of discussions Windsurf was having with OpenAI to sell itself in a deal that could value it at $3 billion, highlighting the interest in the code-generation space which has emerged as one of the fastest-growing AI applications, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in June.

OpenAI could not be immediately reached for a comment.

The former Windsurf team will focus on agentic coding initiatives at Google DeepMind, primarily working on the Gemini project.

"We're excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf's team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding," Google said in a statement.

The unusual deal structure marks a win for backers for Windsurf, which has raised $243 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Greenoaks and General Catalyst, and was last valued at $1.25 billion one year ago, according to PitchBook.

Windsurf investors will receive liquidity through the license fee and retain their stakes in the company, sources told Reuters.

'ACQUIHIRE' DEALS

Google's surprise swoop mirrors its deal in August 2024 to hire key employees from chatbot startup Character.AI.

Big Tech peers, including Microsoft, Amazon and Meta, have similarly taken to these so-called acquihire deals, which some have criticized as an attempt to evade regulatory scrutiny.

Microsoft struck a $650 million deal with Inflection AI in March 2024, to use the AI startup's models and hire its staff, while Amazon hired AI firm Adept's co-founders and some of its team last June.

Meta took a 49% stake in Scale AI in June in the biggest test yet of this increasing form of business partnerships.

Unlike acquisitions that would give the buyer a controlling stake, these deals do not require a review by US antitrust regulators. However, they could probe the deal if they believe it was structured to avoid those requirements or harm competition. Many of the deals have since become the subject of regulatory probes.

The development comes as tech giants, including Alphabet and Meta, aggressively chase high-profile acquisitions and offer multi-million-dollar pay packages to attract top talent in the race to lead the next wave of AI.

Windsurf's head of business, Jeff Wang, has been appointed its interim CEO, and Graham Moreno, vice president of global sales, will be president, effective immediately.

The majority of Windsurf's roughly 250 employees will remain with the company, which has announced plans to prioritize innovation for its enterprise clients.