Chinese AI startup Butterfly Effect, the company behind Manus AI, has raised US$75 million in a funding round led by US-based venture capital firm Benchmark.

This round boosts the company’s valuation to nearly US$500 million.

Existing investors, including Tencent Holdings, ZhenFund, and HSG, also participated in this round.

Butterfly Effect plans to use the funds to expand Manus AI’s reach into new markets, including the US, Japan, and the Middle East.

Representatives from the company and Benchmark have declined to comment on the latest funding.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ AI’s evolution from chat-based assistants to autonomous agents marks a new industry phase

The industry is shifting from AI that responds to prompts toward systems that can independently complete entire workflows, a trend Manus positions itself within.

Forbes’ AI 50 list highlights this evolution, noting companies are now creating autonomous agents capable of executing complete processes without continuous human input 1.

Manus’ claim of a “truly autonomous” general AI agent aligns with the broader market direction, where tools are moving beyond conversation to perform complex tasks like resume screening and trip planning.

This represents a significant maturation from earlier iterations of AI, similar to how expert systems evolved in the 1980s-90s from simple rule-based approaches to more sophisticated problem-solving tools 2.

The push for autonomy in AI agents addresses a fundamental limitation of current systems: most still require significant user guidance rather than truly working independently toward high-level goals 3.

2️⃣ The AI agent space is becoming increasingly crowded with fierce competition

Manus enters a competitive landscape where technology giants and well-funded startups are racing to establish dominance in autonomous AI agents.

Major players including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft are all developing agent-building platforms and embedding agent capabilities into their existing products 4.