Meta has done it again. The social media giant recently bought another AI startup. This time, it’s Singapore-based AI agent company Manus.

It’s meta buy AI company in a deal worth more than $2 billion, according to Wall Street Journal. This is the latest step in Meta’s increasingly aggressive push into AI. The company has plans to invest billions in AI infrastructure. Additionally, Meta has snapped up or invested in AI startups such as Scale AI and Limitless, a sign that its content efforts may not be taking off.

However, there is a snag in the deal now. Manus’ roots in China will raise eyebrows in Washington, as the US and China remain locked in an AI arms race.

Manus made a splash when it debuted this spring as a general AI agent that can handle a wide range of tasks, including deep research, vacation planning, coding, and stock analysis.

Earlier this month, Manus Office has partnered that it already reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue just eight months after launch.

“Joining Meta allows us to build a stronger, more sustainable foundation without changing how Manus operates or how decisions are made,” Manus CEO Xiao Hong said in a statement.

Meta said in its own announcement that it plans to continue operating Manus as its own service, while also integrating it into its own products.

The startup was founded by its parent company, Butterfly Effect, which previously managed offices in Beijing and Wuhan. Shortly after launching Manus, the company moved its headquarters to Singapore.

Manus’s ties to China have already attracted scrutiny. Earlier this year, Silicon Valley venture capital firm Benchmark faced backlash from US lawmakers after investing in Manus.

“Who thinks it’s a good idea for American investors to subsidize our greatest rival in AI, only for the CCP to use that technology to challenge us economically and militarily? Not me,” wrote Sen. John Cornyn in a post of X at that time.

In what is an effort to preempt similar accusations, Meta said that after the deal is over, Manus will have to cut all remaining ties with China.

In a statement to Gizmodo, a Meta spokesperson said:

Meta’s acquisition of Manus AI enables us to provide the most advanced technology to our users with safeguards in place to eliminate areas of potential risk. There will be no continuing Chinese ownership interest in Manus AI following the transaction, and Manus AI will cease its services and operations in China.

According to Nikkei AsiaManus has laid off most of its Chinese employees and now has 105 staff based in Singapore, Tokyo, and San Francisco.