A powerful new AI tool Manus is making waves in China, fuelling hopes that it could replicate the success of DeepSeek, which earlier this year rattled the global tech industry with its state-of-the-art chatbot.
Manus, an AI agent generally considered more advanced than a chatbot, can do everything from analysing the stock market to creating a personalised travel handbook for a trip with simple instructions from users, its website says.
Rapid rise
Manus was released last week by Chinese startup Butterfly Effect.
In a now viral introductory video posted online, co-founder Yichao “Peak” Ji hailed it as “the next paradigm of human-machine collaboration, and potentially a glimpse into AGI,” referencing artificial general intelligence that aims to think the way humans do.
Currently accessible only by invitation, Manus has quickly gained traction, with its official Discord server growing to more than 170,000 members.
Its name comes from the Latin motto “Mens et Manus”, meaning “mind and hand” — a nod to its integration of knowledge and practical application.
Exclusive access
Manus is a “system that can carry out tasks autonomously on behalf of users”, said Manoj Harjani, a research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS).
“DeepSeek and ChatGPT differ from Manus in that they provide responses to prompts from users through a chat-style interface, whereas Manus is able to execute tasks such as booking tickets and sorting through resumes,” he explained.
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