A Chinese AI company has unveiled a new AI model called Manus AI, claiming it to be the world’s first general agentic AI. After DeepSeek, this is the second AI model made by a Chinese company that has sparked widespread discussions in the industry.
“Today, we are launching an early preview of Manus, the world’s first general AI agent,” said Yichao Ji, Co-founder and Chief Scientist at Manus AI. “This is not just another chatbot or workflow, it is truly an autonomous agent that bridges the gap between conception and execution”, he said about the special quality of Manus.
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Manus was developed by Butterfly Effect, a Chinese AI startup founded in 2022 by Red Xiao Hong. Mr. Xiao said that his company’s latest creation differs from typical chatbots as it can analyze feedback and incorporate it into its next answer.
Manus employs pre-existing Large Language Models (LLMs) such as Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet, Alibaba’s Qwen, and other open-source models. This allows Manus the potential to perform beyond a regular chatbot and offer more “human-like” intelligence.
In February this year, another Chinese company released the DeepSeek R1 model, which was noted for delivering high-end performance at a fraction of the cost of leading LLMs such as GPT and Gemini. This has encouraged many Chinese AI start-ups to push for more cost-effective open-source LLMs. Butterfly Effect’s Manus is another step towards that ambition.
