The team behind Chinese general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) agent Manus has relocated its headquarters to Singapore, stoking speculation that the move was aimed at facilitating easier access to Nvidia chips amid US export controls to China.
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“This company right now is headquartered in Singapore,” Manus AI co-founder and chief product officer Zhang Tao revealed during a keynote session at the SuperAI conference in Singapore on June 18. He added that the firm also had offices in Tokyo and California.
The “About Us” section on Manus’ website also lists its global headquarters as Singapore.
Manus, developed in China by start-up Butterfly Effect, has captured significant attention within the global AI community since its invite-only launch in early March. The AI agent’s ability to handle complex tasks has positioned it as a leading symbol of AI innovation in China, following the success of DeepSeek.
But like many Chinese tech firms, Manus AI faces challenges in obtaining advanced chips from Nvidia to train its algorithms. Its Chinese ties have also come under scrutiny in Washington.
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The US Treasury Department was reviewing a US$75 million financing round into Manus AI, led by California-based venture capital firm Benchmark, according to a report from news website Semafor last week.