MKsport an AI agent released by Chinese start-up Monica Photo: VCG" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-03-07/014838b3-6214-42f0-b36f-27b836368930.jpeg" />

Manus, an AI agent released by Chinese start-up Monica Photo: VCG

Following the DeepSeek buzz, China's new artificial intelligence (AI) agent Manus has captured global attention immediately after its recent preview launch, with its reported ability to independently think, plan, and execute complex tasks, delivering complete results.

In just two days after its preview launch, it has garnered wide attention from foreign media, with many featuring it in headlines and comparing its popularity to that of DeepSeek when launched in January. China has been at the helm of several AI breakthroughs in 2025. The launch of DeepSeek in January, described as a "Sputnik moment" for US AI development, showed that China was able to produce functional Large Language Models (LLMs) for a fraction of the cost of American industry leaders, and Manus shows that this kind of progress can be repeated, Newsweek reported.

Nikkei Asia titled its report "The next DeepSeek? Startup Manus becomes China's latest AI darling." The report further claimed that "excitement is mingling with skepticism as Chinese tech companies that hope to be seen as 'the next DeepSeek' roll out one artificial intelligence breakthrough after another."

Singapore-based Lianhe Zaobao also reported on this event with the notable headline, "Chinese team launches Manus, the world's first general-purpose AI agent," stating that the announcement has driven related stocks to hit their daily limit.

The AI agent has a wide range of applications, from creating a custom guidebook for a trip to deeply analyzing Tesla's stock, per the company.

According to the team, Manus achieved SOTA (State-of-the-Art) results in the GAIA benchmark test, demonstrating performance that surpasses OpenAI's models of the same level.

The agent developer, Chinese start-up Monica was established in July 2023 with a registered capital of $10 million and is based in Beijing's Haidian district, according to domestic financial information provider Aiqicha.

Currently, access is limited to invitation-only. Many users have turned to domestic secondhand markets in search of the invitation codes, but supply is limited. On the platform, prices vary significantly, ranging from 999 yuan ($137) to as high as 50,000 yuan ($6,900). Some sellers have even refused to negotiate, emphasizing the rarity of the codes, according to a report by CCTV.com.

The company has distanced itself from the market hype, the Global Times learned from an employee of the company on Friday who stated the company has no involvement in any paid channels to obtain invitation codes. The person noted that the current access is limited due to insufficient server capacity. The AI agent is still in the internal testing phase, with no confirmed launch date, and that they are working tirelessly to optimize it, he said. 

In addition, the invitation codes currently being issued are "very limited," the employee added, without specifying exact numbers.

Domestic news outlet TMTpost reported on Wednesday, citing the company's employee, that Manus' post-launch popularity has exceeded expectations. Before the launch, server resources were allocated for an industry-standard demo, but they have now been completely overwhelmed, the report said.  

"The registration portal was even subjected to brute-force attacks, and the team has been working through the night, tirelessly addressing various issues. The system is still operating under extreme overload," one employee told the media outlet.

The Manus project is a joint effort between teams in Beijing and Wuhan, initiated a year ago by the Beijing team. After a year of development, Manus has taken shape, the report said. However, some have questioned its capabilities, as it is currently not openly available in the market.

The founding team of Monica includes Xiao Hong, a serial entrepreneur and 2015 graduate of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the South China Morning Post reported.

Manus and its developer have trended on Weibo, with the topic of "Manus' founder being a post-90s Chinese entrepreneur" attracting over 58 million views and 15,000 comments as of press time.