China’s New AI Agent: Is Manus the Next Big Thing?
China may be on the verge of another significant breakthrough in the artificial intelligence domain. Following the buzz generated by DeepSeek AI’s DeepSeek-R1 model, another Chinese startup, Monica, has launched Manus, an AI agent. This new agent is quickly attracting global attention, with some already calling it a potential ‘DeepSeek moment’ for China.
Manus’s capabilities are impressive, particularly its capacity to independently plan, think, and execute complex, real-world tasks, including creating websites. The company shared a demonstration video on its website, manus.im. The AI agent reportedly gained significant traction within the first 20 hours of its preview launch.
What is Manus?
Manus is being touted as the world’s first truly general AI agent It has demonstrated its ability to independently complete tasks, think, and plan, delivering complete results. According to the company, Manus can generate a detailed itinerary for a trip to Japan, provide in-depth stock analysis, create interactive coursework for teachers, and analyze insurance policies.
Monica claims Manus outperforms OpenAI’s DeepResearch on the GAIA benchmark, a third-party standard for evaluating general AI assistants.
According to the creators, Manus is designed to autonomously perform intricate tasks across various industries. Its defining features are autonomous operations and cloud-based functionality that operates asynchronously, allowing users to assign tasks and disconnect their devices. The makers claim that Manus continues to work in the cloud even after disconnection, delivering results upon completion.
How to Use Manus AI
Getting started with Manus is straightforward. Similar to other AI chatbots, users can begin by providing a prompt. For example, “Give a 7-day travel itinerary with a specific budget to Bali.” Manus then researches and compiles data, creating a structured output in real-time. It can generate files, browse the web for information, interact live with web pages, take screenshots, and record browsing activity for later review.
A New Era for AI-Powered Browsing?
Tech companies are racing to release AI-powered browsers, reflecting a broader industry shift towards intelligent web navigation. Manus AI appears to be a significant step, offering a more intuitive, powerful, and cost-effective alternative to existing tools. With deep web research capabilities, file creation, and the ability to automate online tasks, Manus AI could change how we interact with the internet.
This rapid pace of development in Chinese AI suggests that Manus could be the next major advancement in AI-driven automation. Preliminary information indicates that the demo video was hosted by Peak Ji Yichao, a 33-year-old Chinese entrepreneur and tech enthusiast and creator of the mobile browser Mammoth.
