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China Imposes Exit Bans on Manus CEO Red Xiao and Co-Founder
Red Xiao, CEO of the AI startup Manus acquired by Meta for $2 billion last year, is now barred from leaving China along with a co-founder. The move follows Xiao's relocation of the company to Singapore and firing of China-based staff. Meta's lawyers are working to disentangle the acquisition amid Beijing's push for national tech alignment.
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Chinese authorities have imposed exit bans on Red Xiao, CEO of the AI startup Manus, and another co-founder, preventing them from leaving the country. This development comes after Xiao relocated Manus to Singapore, fired his China-based staff, and closed the company's Chinese websites and online chatrooms.
Meta, which acquired Manus for $2 billion last year, now has its lawyers attempting to disentangle the company from the Chinese aspects of the deal.
Red Xiao and his China-based team developed one of the first AI assistants to make advanced AI models practically useful to everyday users. An advisor who spent time with Xiao recently described him as a 'very, very thoughtful, super-smart' visionary.
Chetan Puttagunta, a partner at the venture firm Benchmark, called Manus 'magical' after the firm led a $75 million investment round in the startup.
U.S. tech supremacy. Xi stated to senior economic officials at a conference last week that he is demanding more 'original and disruptive innovation' across the tech spectrum.
China's VC industry has been virtually nationalized, with almost all top funds state-operated and pursuing Xi's goals in AI. Chinese entrepreneurs have been excluded from banking, energy, and transportation sectors by state monopolies.
U.S. The article detailing these events was published on May 5, 2026, at 4:58am EDT.
