The co-founder of Manus, the AI startup recently acquired by Meta for $2.5 billion, has drawn parallels between himself and Mark Zuckerberg, highlighting their shared journey as college dropouts who built successful tech companies. Ji Yichao, the 32-year-old chief scientist and co-founder of Manus, shared two photographs on X showing younger versions of himself and Zuckerberg working on laptops in the same room at the “Facebook House” in Palo Alto, California. “21 years ago and 13 years ago, two dropouts in this same room set out on their own journeys. Today, those paths merge,” Ji wrote following acquisition announcement.According to Chinese media reports, Ji started a computer science degree at Beijing Information Science and Technology University in 2010 but dropped out to pursue entrepreneurship. He later returned to complete his degree in 2018. Zuckerberg famously left Harvard University in 2004 to focus on building Facebook, which eventually became Meta.
Meta’s $2.5 billion bet on AI agents signals new era
The deal includes a $500 million retention pool for Manus employees, as Meta ramps up its foray into AI. Manus will be retained as a stand-alone subscription service while weaving in the startup’s technology into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.Manus, which debuted in March 2024 as a “general-purpose” AI agent capable of independently conducting deep research and vacation planning, and even coding and stock analysis, reached more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue in less than a year and gained millions of users.
Chinese roots raise geopolitical concerns despite Singapore move
That deal is also not without geopolitical nuances, given that Manus was founded by Butterfly Effect in Beijing and Wuhan in 2022. Still, it moved to Singapore in mid-2025, apparently to hedge against geopolitical risk as part of the U.S.–China tech rivalry. Meta says there will be “no continuing Chinese ownership interests in Manus AI” after the acquisition, adding it would wind down services in China. Manus reportedly laid off most of its Chinese staff and now operates with 105 employees across Singapore, Tokyo, and San Francisco.Earlier, Senator John Cornyn had criticised Silicon Valley venture firm Benchmark for its support of Manus, citing fears of American capital underpinning Chinese technology interests.
