Another DeepSeek moment? General AI agent Manus shows ability to handle complex tasks
A general artificial intelligence (AI) agent developed by a low-profile team backed by Chinese investors and developers has quickly gained attention in the AI community for its ability to handle complex, real-world tasks.
Manus, currently available as an invitation-only web preview, can execute practical tasks such as creating a custom website through a step-by-step process, according to a demonstration video on its website manus.im.
The website also listed tasks that can be done by the Manus AI agent, which include devising an itinerary for a trip to Japan, providing an in-depth analysis of Tesla's stock, creating an interactive course for middle-school teachers, comparing different insurance policies, and assisting in business-to-business supplier sourcing, among others.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
It also claims that Manus can outperform OpenAI's Deep Research based on the GAIA benchmark, a third-party measure of general AI assistants.
The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken January 27, 2025. Photo: Reuters alt=The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken January 27, 2025. Photo: Reuters>
While Manus has provided little information about its corporate structure, its team and underlying models for the agent, the demo video has triggered massive interest. The video, published on X on Wednesday night, had received over 200,000 views by noon Thursday, with many comments asking for an invitation code to try the agent.
The sudden popularity of Manus among the AI community is similar to the buzz that followed the launch of DeepSeek's R1 reasoning model in January.
A general-purpose AI agent, which can interact with its environment, collect data and use the data to handle tasks to meet predetermined goals, is widely seen as the future of AI applications. Based on its demo, Manus is able to autonomously browse websites, leverage various capabilities and display its workflow in real-time. The product is being described by its developer as "a general AI agent that bridges minds and actions: it doesn't just think, it delivers results".
The demo video is hosted by "Peak" Ji Yichao, a 33-year-old Chinese entrepreneur and tech enthusiast who created the mobile browser Mammoth and founded Peak Labs in the US.
According to sources in China's venture capital industry, the team behind Manus previously developed Monica AI, a popular AI assistant with millions of users that was capable of integrating various large AI models.
Monica is available as a browser extension and as an app across mobile and desktop platforms. The founding team of Monica includes Xiao Hong, a serial entrepreneur and 2015 graduate from Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business of Fashion
35 minutes ago
- Business of Fashion
Surprise! Why Apparel Prices Are Actually Falling
A little over a month into President Donald Trump's new tariff regime, the verdict is in: Clothes are getting cheaper. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday reported that apparel prices fell 0.4 percent between April and May, and were down 0.9 percent from a year prior. Inflation overall was estimated at 2.4 percent, in line with expectations. The data likely reflects pain delayed rather than avoided. Many retailers stocked up before Trump announced a 10 percent tariff on all imports, as well as an additional 30 percent levy on Chinese goods. Inflation figures also don't account for hikes that were announced but have yet to kick in. E.l.f. Cosmetics, LVMH, Nike and many others have said they plan to raise prices this summer. But the downward trend speaks to another truth about fashion's approach to pricing: The tariffs came at a time when brands were already working overtime to convince reluctant shoppers to keep spending. Rather than pass along costs, many companies' instinct is to explore every other option first. Urban Outfitters, Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch fall in that camp, saying they'll hold off on increasing prices even as they warn of shrinking margins. And for brands that engaged in years of post-pandemic price hikes, discounting even in the face of tariffs is still the best way to win back customers. Many luxury labels fall in this category, though plenty of mass-market brands are more expensive than they used to be, too. 'Retailers don't want to scare consumers or the market and suggest they're [raising] prices,' said Sonia Lapinsky, partner at retail consultancy Alix Partners. 'They're refraining as much as possible, they're not talking as much as possible.' Fashion's Falling Prices Apparel prices fell month on month between April and May, and nearly 1 percent in May year on year. The rate of price increases began slowing in 2023, and then declining early this year. This doesn't account for the full impact of tariffs on retailers' margins, which won't be realised until late summer or fall. That is when prices could get 'wildly volatile,' because of brands' individual approaches to pricing in the face of rising costs, said Michael Prendergast, managing director of Alvarez & Marsal Consumer and Retail Group. Some brands will look at this moment as a time to sacrifice margin to gain market share. With expanded margins, thanks to years of rising prices, many retailers are well positioned to absorb the impact. For now brands are doing everything in their power to keep people shopping and drive traffic, said Lapinsky, including upping discounting throughout April and May. Beyond categories like footwear that are highly susceptible to tariffs, brands will get specific about where they raise prices — fashion items may have elasticity, but shoppers would see a more obvious change in basic pieces, for example. Likely, after years of experimenting, brands have learned where their limits are. Planning for the rest of the year is filled with extra risk. Raise prices too much, and kill demand; plan for lower demand and potentially end up with empty shelves. That conundrum will likely come to a head for retailers during back-to-school shopping season. 'We're likely going to have an inventory issue on one end or the other,' said Lapinsky. 'Either we've got inventory in the stores that had to be priced at a point that they can't clear, or retailers may have pulled back and just don't have what customers are looking for.' Mood-Swing Shopping As they make inventory and pricing decisions for the rest of the year, retailers are watching consumer sentiment closely to try to determine whether they'll have the appetite to spend — and to what degree. 'You have to be cautious of exactly what inventory you're taking in, given consumer sentiment and how much they're shopping,' said Jessica Ramírez, co-founder of research firm The Consumer Collective. 'If you're just churning inventory that isn't a priority on your consumers' list, you're not going to do very well.' After falling to its lowest point in years, consumer sentiment got a slight boost in May. Part of that may be thanks to a comparative settling of the news cycle from April, when Trump first announced, and then temporarily paused, levies. But even just the feeling of rising prices and uncertainty can put a damper on shoppers' moods. Plus, more generally, price inflation in other categories will have an impact on consumer appetite to spend on apparel. 'Food and gas prices affect discretionary income,' said Prendergast. 'Gas prices are coming down, that's the good news. The not great news is food continues to rise — that pinches the wallet.' Trouble is Brewing Elsewhere The picture of softened demand is clearer in China, the second biggest fashion market after the US. Earlier this month, China reported consumer prices overall — not just apparel — fell for a fourth consecutive month in May, raising concerns that deflation is here to stay. Meanwhile, wage shrinkage and property value slumps continue. It's already having an impact on fashion, reported Reuters: Amid raging price wars, stores are putting merchandise on steep discount — $30 for a Coach handbag at Super Zhuanzhuan, for example. US-based apparel companies operating in China will face more uncertainty in an already challenged market. Trouble abroad could even be felt back home. 'The more that's happening in the macro, the more concerned the consumer in America is going to be,' said Lapinsky. 'We don't see any end to that in the next few months.' Though, starting in March, China began ramping up fiscal stimulus. And much remains to be seen about how the Chinese consumer will react, said Ramírez. Fashion is still in a wait-and-see phase when it comes to price hikes and planning, but the moment of truth could be getting closer. 'Overall retailers are underplaying the effect of what tariffs and inflation are going to do to their sales and EBITDA,' said Prendergast. 'We're advising clients, take the next two years of your revenue and margin plans down, like, take them down and again, use this opportunity to cut costs internally.'
Forbes
35 minutes ago
- Forbes
Japan's Largest Companies 2025: Rare Interest Rate Hikes Lead To A Volatile Year
Toyota and other Japanese automakers have been hampered by Trump's tariffs. Getty Images Japan's stock market has been on a roller-coaster ride over the past 12 months. Its benchmark Nikkei index reached an all-time high in July 2024, driven by corporate governance reforms and robust company earnings, then crashed more than 25% in less than four weeks on a surprise interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan. Though the index rebounded shortly after, its gains were trimmed in early 2025 as U.S. President Donald Trump ignited his trade war. Japan has 180 companies on this year's Forbes Global 2000 ranking of the world's largest public corporations, down slightly from 182 in 2024, making it the third most-represented country after the U.S. and China. The list weighs market value, revenue, profit and assets equally, using the latest 12 months of data as of April 25. Toyota Motor, the highest-ranking Japanese company, is in a sector particularly hard hit by Trump's sweeping tariffs. The U.S. in early April imposed a 25% tax on foreign-made cars, followed in early May by the same levy on auto parts, a blow to Japan's mainstay industry and its export-led economy. The world's top-selling carmaker slipped three places to No. 14 after its stock tumbled 22% over the year. Though its revenues and profits in the year through December were roughly flat at $309 billion and $34 billion, respectively, Toyota warned that the tariffs would result in a $1.3 billion hit to operating profit in April and May. Some of Toyota Motor's peers suffered even steeper declines. Nissan Motor, long plagued by deteriorating financials, sank 366 spots to No. 707 after its profit in the 12 months through December plunged 76% to $702.6 million. After the cut-off date for the list, the automaker posted a $4.7 billion loss for the three months ended March. Nissan is struggling to restructure after merger talks with larger rival Honda Motor collapsed in February. The failed tie-up, together with the tariffs, relegated Honda to No. 117 from No. 91 as its stock fell 17% over the year. Mitsubishi Motors, whose biggest shareholder is Nissan, tumbled 379 places to No. 1,562 as its shares skidded almost 10%. Companies in the AI space were a bright spot. Billionaire Masayoshi Son's SoftBank investment powerhouse climbed 331 spots to No. 130 on a 425% surge in 12-month profit through December to $5.6 billion, driven partly by increases in the value of portfolio companies such as ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok. SoftBank is ramping up its AI bet, with plans to invest up to $30 billion in U.S.-based ChatGPT maker OpenAI while also investing $100 billion to build AI infrastructure stateside as part of its Stargate Project joint venture with OpenAI and Oracle. The AI boom also lifted Advantest, the world's largest semiconductor testing equipment maker by market share and a supplier to AI-chip giant Nvidia. It scaled 509 places to No. 1,231 as its profit in the year through March more than doubled to $1.1 billion on a 52% surge in sales to $5.1 billion. Other notable climbers included companies in the defense industry. IHI Corp, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) were among the best performers on the Nikkei over the year as Japan ramped up military spending. IHI, an engineering company that makes everything from turbines for power plants to rocket systems for space travel, debuted on the Global 2000 at No. 1,349 after its stock skyrocketed 176%. A more than doubling in MHI stock elevated the company 75 spots to No. 372 while KHI vaulted 513 places to No. 1,331 on a 52% share increase.
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Morning Bid: Oil pops, dollar drops
By Mike Dolan LONDON (Reuters) -What matters in U.S. and global markets today I'm excited to announce that I'm now part of Reuters Open Interest (ROI), an essential new source for data-driven, expert commentary on market and economic trends. You can find ROI on the Reuters website, and you can follow us on LinkedIn and X. Intro Not for the first time this year, markets are being hit by multiple crosscurrents. Today it's an oil price surge driven by Middle East tensions alongside surprisingly benign U.S. inflation readings. I discuss this and the rest of today's market news below. In today's column, I explore a surprising twist in the global dollar debate that could reshape how investors think about currency risk. I'll be off tomorrow so Morning Bid will take a day's holiday, but back to regular programming on Monday. Today's Market Minute * U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday U.S. personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because "it could be a dangerous place", adding that the United States would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. * U.S. consumer prices increased less than expected in May as cheaper gasoline partially offset higher rents, but inflation is expected to accelerate in the coming months on the back of the Trump administration's import tariffs. *An Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India's western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said, and India's federal health minister said that "many people" were killed. * U.S. trade negotiations have transitioned from their tumultuous opening act into a new chapter: the Slow Grind. It may be less turbulent than this past spring's drama, but no less worrying for investors. Oil pops, dollar drops With investors trying to read the runes of this week's 'framework' trade agreement between the U.S. and China on Wednesday, worries surfaced about the state of play in the Middle East after the U.S. announced that it was moving personnel out of the region ahead of talks with Iran over the latter's nuclear-related activity. Crude oil prices promptly jumped 4% and hit their highest in two months before giving up some of those gains earlier today. European travel stocks and auto makers fell more than 2% on Thursday on the jitters. Gold, however, was only marginally higher, and the dollar fell. While no specific reason was given for the U.S. personnel orders, the U.N. nuclear watchdog passed a resolution on Thursday formally declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. Concern about Israeli threats to Iran's nuclear facilities inevitably ramped up. The prospect of higher energy prices at a time of tariff-related inflation concerns will certainly rankle. But so far at least, the Trump administration's import levies aren't putting much upward pressure on U.S. consumer prices, as May CPI came in below forecasts on Wednesday. Core annual producer price readings due out later today are expected to be steady. Despite this week's crude gains, year-on-year oil prices are still down more than 10%. And two-year U.S. 'breakeven' inflation rates in the inflation-protected Treasury market fell to their lowest of the year at 2.44%. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury yields fell on a mix of soft inflation and robust demand at the 10-year auction on Wednesday. Some $22 billion of 30-year bonds are up for grabs later today, testing the recently shaky demand for long-duration debt. Federal Reserve expectations haven't shifted greatly, with two quarter-point interest rate cuts still priced by yearend. No move is expected before September, even though President Donald Trump once again called for an immediate full percentage point rate cut after the CPI report. The dollar remains under pressure however, raising more concern about the absence of its traditional 'safe haven' role at a time of rising geopolitical tensions. The dollar index fell to its lowest level since April, with the euro surging above $1.15 to within a whisker of its best levels since 2021. Sterling was a standout loser against the euro, falling to its weakest against the single currency in a month after a surprisingly sharp drop in April UK GDP. Stocks were slightly shaken by the whole picture, with the S&P500 ending in the red on the Middle East news on Wednesday and futures down almost half a percentage point ahead of Thursday's open. Chinese, Japanese and European bourses were all in the red on Thursday. Only South Korea's Kospi bucked the trend. The wider trade war picture remained uncertain despite the U.S.-China progress, with details still patchy as the negotiated deal in London awaited final approval. Trump on Wednesday said he was very happy with the trade deal, as it restored a fragile truce between the two biggest economies, claiming China agreed to free up rare earth supplies in exchange for the U.S. allowing Chinese students to attend U.S. colleges. But he also insisted: "We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%." White House officials said the 55% represents the sum of a baseline 10% "reciprocal" tariff Trump has imposed on goods imported from nearly all U.S. trading partners, the 20% fentanyl-related tariffs, and pre-existing 25% levies on imports from China that were put in place during Trump's first term. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the 55% rate on Chinese imports is fixed and unalterable. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the deal would not reduce U.S. export restrictions on high-end artificial intelligence chips. China on Thursday affirmed the trade deal, and a foreign ministry spokesperson said: "Now that a consensus has been reached, both sides should abide by it." But with less than four weeks to go before the expiration of the 90-day pause on U.S. tariffs worldwide, markets remain concerned about what will happen next month. Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to extend a July 8 deadline for completing trade talks, but also said he did not believe that would be necessary, noting: "At a certain point, we're just going to send letters out ... saying, 'This is the deal. You can take it, or you can leave it.'" European Union talks, in particular, look unlikely to be concluded by then. Elsewhere, Boeing shares fell 6% pre-market after news that an Air India plane headed to London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India's western city of Ahmedabad. Be sure to check out today's column, which looks at the weakening dollar and the debate about whether its decline is being driven by flight from U.S. assets at large or simply foreign investors hedging their dollar exposure. Chart of the day The UK may be seeing the downsides of publishing noisy monthly GDP readouts as opposed to quarterly updates. The April GDP report threw cold water on a relatively robust start to the year for the UK economy, showing a surprising 0.3% contraction during the month. However, it remains very unclear how much of the April loss will be durable through the second quarter. Either way, the data will put pressure on the Bank of England to step up monetary easing. Consequently, both sterling and UK government bond yields fell back after the GDP release. Today's events to watch * U.S. May producer price report (8:30 AM EDT), weekly jobless claims (8:30 AM EDT) * Federal Reserve issues Quarterly Financial Accounts of the United States (11:00 AM EDT) * U.S. Treasury auctions $22 billion of 30-year bonds * European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos and ECB board member Isabel Schnabel both speak in Brussels * U.S. corporate earnings: Adobe Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Want to receive the Morning Bid in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the newsletter here. (By Mike Dolan; Editing by Anna Szymanski and Gareth Jones) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
