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Scott Shuey · · 8 min readManus shines at research but crumbles against CAPTCHAs
Between the Silicon Valley dream of fully autonomous AI and the brutal reality of the internet’s bot-blocking architecture stands AI agent platform Manus.
When it first launched in March, Manus grabbed the attention of the tech industry – or at least the very small portion of it that got off the waitlist – as the world’s first general AI agent. This means that, unlike earlier AI models, Manus could reach out into the real world and do stuff, at least in theory.
Image credit: Timmy Loen
This prompted many in the tech media to proclaim that Manus’ tech would “change everything.” The platform was also recognized as the latest in Chinese innovation as its rollout followed closely on the heels of DeepSeek.
Although built in China, the platform operates partly in Singapore. The Manus app, along with all-in-one AI assistant Monica, is owned and distributed by Butterfly Effect Holding Limited. The firm is registered in the Cayman Islands and Singapore, where Butterfly Holdings and Manus are both headquartered.
Manus’ founder, Xiao “Red” Hong, is a Chinese national.
Tech in Asia reached out to the company for comments for this story, but it declined.
Manus received early financial backing from ZhenFund, Tencent, and HongShan Capital (formerly Sequoia China). In April, it raised US$75 million in a round led by Benchmark Capital, which valued the company at approximately US$500 million.
Photo credit: Manus
Although free to use, Manus enforces a daily usage limit of 300 credits per user. For reference, gathering data for a top 20 music list and creating a basic website using the platform requires just over 600 credits.
Manus also offers three paid subscription plans, ranging from US$19 to US$199 per month.
When Manus opened up to the public in May, I spent a couple of evenings working through the platform, conducting tests to see if the hype around it is justified.
Round 1: Bali or bust
While Manus can do most of what ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini do – like write and summarize documents – it’s known for its agentic capabilities.
Asking the impossible
Manus vs. others
Round 2: research time
Internal server errors
Final verdict: It’s complicated
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The ambitious AI agent platform claims it can plan, execute, and crunch data – but only if it overcomes CAPTCHAs, server errors, and the competition.
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