China’s Manus AI offers free registration after fresh funding amid AI agent competition

The artificial intelligence (AI) agent Manus AI is now open for public registration, eliminating its previous wait-list system following new funding and growing competition.

Since its invite-only launch in early March, the general-purpose AI agent, developed by a team of Chinese entrepreneurs, has captured the attention of the global AI community, thanks in large part to its ability to handle complex tasks. This has made it one of the hottest AI start-ups to emerge from China since DeepSeek.

The decision to open registrations – making one of the most sought-after and difficult-to-access AI services freely available to everyone – comes after the company’s latest funding round amid rising competition from Big Tech and other AI start-ups.

Manus recently raised US$75 million in funding at a US$500 million valuation in a round led by US venture capital firm Benchmark Capital, according to a Bloomberg report. Manus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

US media outlet Semafor reported last week that the US Treasury Department was reviewing the recent investment. Benchmark is based in California.

Manus said it was giving users a one-time bonus of 1,000 credits so that everyone could try the service. An additional 300 credits would be added to free user accounts on a daily basis, the company said in a notice on its website.

South China Morning Post