China’s Next AI Power: Manus AI Gains Ground Against DeepSeek

Manus AI: Beijing’s new AI champion, on the steps of DeepSeek

Chinese startup Manus AI has registered a China-focused version of its AI assistant, and it has been mentioned for the first time by the state media. This is a part of Beijing’s strategy to support the country’s AI startups, which have made a name for themselves on foreign platforms.

DeepSeek’s AI model developed in Silicon Valley has stunned the world, and since then Chinese investors have been looking for new domestic startups that can make a splash in the tech world. Among these startups, one name that is emerging is Manus. This company went viral on X platform a few weeks ago when they released the world’s first general AI agent who can take his own decisions and perform tasks without much prompts. Unlike AI chatbots like ChatGPT and DeepSeek, this AI agent requires fewer inputs.

Now, Beijing is also seen supporting the rollout of Manus. State media CCTV gave the first coverage showing Manus’ AI agent against DeepSeek’s AI chatbot. Beijing’s city administration also announced the Chinese version of Manus’ first AI assistant Monica has now cleared a regulatory hurdle, a key step for AI apps in China.

China’s AI applications must comply with strict regulations to avoid generating sensitive or, in Beijing’s view, harmful content. Last week, Manus also announced a strategic partnership with the team behind Alibaba’s Qwen AI model. The step could boost the nationwide rollout of Manus’ AI agent, which is currently only available to users with an invite code, and has about 2 million people on the waiting list, according to the startup’s estimates.

All this indicates that after Beijing DeepSeek, now it is fully prepared to prepare Manus as the next AI leader.

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