Manus, Another DeepSeek Moment

Chinese start-up Monica unveiled an artificial intelligence agent called Manus, sparking widespread attention and discussions online, with some media calling it "another DeepSeek moment", in a nod to the rapid rise of the Chinese AI start-up. 

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV have boldly described it as the world’s first general AI agent, capable of autonomously and independently thinking, planning, and executing complex tasks. Manus went viral online within just about 20 hours of its preview launch on Wednesday. 

General AI refers to a type of AI that can perform any task a human can, whereas generative AI like ChatGPT is a specific tool designed mainly to generate text and answer questions within its trained knowledge.

The AI agent has a wide range of applications, from creating a custom guidebook for a trip, providing an in-depth analysis of Tesla's stock, creating an interactive course for middle-school teachers, to comparing different insurance policies, and assisting in business-to-business supplier sourcing, among others. It asserted that in GAIA, a third-party benchmark for evaluating general AI assistants on solving real-world problems, Manus achieved state-of-the-art results across all difficulty levels, surpassing OpenAI’s models of the same level.

FYI, the name “Manus” is derived from the Latin phrase “Mens et Manus” meaning “Mind and Hand”, reflecting the company’s vision of applying knowledge to practical tasks. 

On X, a video introducing Manus was viewed more than 370,000 times just 20 hours after being posted. Ji Yichao (left), co-founder and chief scientist of Manus AI, stated in a video on X that "for the past year, we've been quietly building what we believe is the next evolution in AI, and today we're launching an early preview of Manus, the first general AI agent. This isn't just another chatbot or workflow... it's a truly autonomous agent that bridges the gap between conception and execution". 

Currently, access to the application is limited, and users need an invitation code to use it. Many users are flocking to a domestic secondhand marketplace platform, seeking invitation codes, but sellers are scarce. Prices for these codes range wildly from 999 yuan ($137) to 50,000 yuan ($6,900) on the platform, with some sellers explicitly refusing to negotiate, citing the code's extreme scarcity, CCTV.com reported. 

On Thursday, Zhang Tao, a partner at Manus AI, responded in a post, explaining that the invitation system was necessary due to limited server capacity. He added that the team had been working overnight to address the issue and hoped to allow more users on the waitlist to experience Manus soon. 

Zhang also urged the public to be more understanding and supportive of a start-up with only a few dozen team members. He reassured users that the team are working at full capacity to deliver a better product as soon as possible.

Discussions about Manus and its developer have trended on Weibo, with the topic of "Manus' founder being a post-90s Chinese entrepreneur" garnering over 27.8 million reads and 5,800 comments as of March 07, 2025, 12:40 AM.