Chinese authorities ordered a halt to the acquisition of Manus, a Singaporean AI startup native to China, by US tech giant Meta, demanding that the company withdraw from the deal. SMU Associate Professor of Finance Fu Fangjian believes the acquisition may fall through, making Manus the biggest loser. He added that Meta will definitely look for other, more affordable options. He also predicts this incident won't significantly impact US-China relations, given that the $2 billion acquisition is not on the same scale as the TikTok US business acquisition, and Washington is unlikely to lodge a protest with Beijing.
