New AI agent unveiled in the latest win for China in the global tech race

A new artificial intelligence agent developed by Chinese researchers is reinforcing fears Beijing is eclipsing the US in the AI race.

Manus AI claims to be the world’s first fully autonomous AI agent, meaning it can carry out complex tasks without oversight. Forbes described it as “a digital polymath.”

Released last week, Manus is winning rave reviews: Axios’ chief technology correspondent said it was drawing comparisons to DeepSeek, the chatbot that this year drew attention after being produced cheaply and with far fewer chips than top Silicon Valley models.

One analyst said the release of Manus points to a deeper gulf between Western AI developers’ apparent focus on huge-scale platforms and Chinese competitors gravitating toward low-cost, commercial products.