On the evening of 5 March, it seemed as though everyone was talking about the Manus AI model. Invitation codes are being offered online priced between 10,000 RMB (1,379.10 USD) and 100,000 RMB (13,791.01 USD).
Some call it “the ChatGPT moment for AI agents”, while others say it’s “another sleepless night for the tech circle”. So, what is Manus? It is a general-purpose AI agent developed by the company that developed the Monica AI assistant. And why does it matter? Unlike large language models (LLMs) that are mostly chat-based, Manus can perform tasks across apps such as booking tickets or sifting through CVs, and is reported to be much more powerful than competitors such as OpenAI’s Deep Research and Claude’s computer use function.
- #Manus为何一夜爆火 Why did Manus go viral overnight: 8.15 million views on Rednote, ranking number 3 on the Hot Spot list
- #Manus创始人为中国90后 Manus founder is a Chinese millennial (post-90 generation): 26.72 million views on Weibo, ranking number 4 on the Hot Search list
Manus has been touted as the “first-ever general-purpose AI” or even the “first AGI” in the world. On 6 March, Manus, like DeepSeek before it, caused many an “AI concept stock” to surge and reach limit up.
If Manus is anything like DeepSeek, now is the time for brands and marketers to try and integrate the model into their services, not just for the novelty, but for genuine convenience.
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