A Deep Dive into the Business Essence, Pinpointing Enterprise Core Strengths

Author | Li Ping

On March 6, a Chinese team officially launched Manus, a universal AI Agent product that also happens to be the world's first of its kind.

Manus' debut has garnered significant attention from both the technology and investment sectors. In the GAIA Benchmark Test, which evaluates AI Agents' capabilities in handling complex real-world problems, Manus achieved SOTA (State-of-the-Art) results, surpassing OpenAI's models at the same level.

Following Manus' launch, related A-share listed companies witnessed a collective surge. By the close of March 6, Lifang Holdings hit the 30% daily limit, while Kute Intelligence, Hand Information, and Zhiyuan Interconnection all reached the 20% daily limit. Other stocks, including Focus Technology, Zhejiang Wenlian Interconnection, Nanxing Co., Ltd., and Yonyou Network, also hit their daily limits.

The brains behind Manus is Xiao Hong, a serial entrepreneur born in 1992 who graduated from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. In 2015, post-graduation, he ventured into entrepreneurship, launching "Yiban Assistant" and "Weiban Assistant." After the rise of large models in 2022, he officially founded Monica, focusing on the overseas market. Monica is an All-in-One AI assistant where users can directly access various mainstream models by clicking its browser icon. In 2024, Monica's user base doubled to 10 million.

On March 7, Yichao Peak Ji (Ji Yichao), co-founder and chief scientist of Manus, issued a statement on X: "Our official X account (@ManusAI_HQ) was accidentally frozen yesterday. We are actively working with the X team to resolve this issue. Preliminary observations suggest that the freeze may be related to third-party mentions of cryptocurrency scams. For clarity: Manus has never been involved in cryptocurrency projects, token issuances, or blockchain initiatives. Any cryptocurrency enterprises with similar names claiming association with us are fraudulent. We are taking legal action against these impersonators and encourage users to report suspicious accounts."

01

What Can Manus Do?

In simple terms, an Agent is an AI program capable of perceiving its environment and possessing the ability to think and act independently. Unlike traditional AI, which is typically command-driven, AI Agents can solve tasks independently. The Manus team refers to it as a universal agent, meaning it has the capability to solve complex problems across multiple scenarios.

The official introduction states that for personalized travel planning or professional data analysis needs, Manus can flexibly invoke various tools in its virtual environment through independent thinking and systematic planning. By writing and executing code, intelligently browsing web pages, and operating various web applications, Manus can directly deliver complete task results to users, rather than just providing suggestions or answers.

The Benchmarks released on the Manus official website reveal that on GAIA (General AI Assistants), Manus achieved new state-of-the-art (SOTA) performance across all three difficulty levels. GAIA is a benchmark evaluation system that assesses the ability of general AI assistants to solve real-world problems. Previously, the highest score was held by OpenAI's DeepResearch.

The official also released a 4-minute introduction and demonstration video, showcasing how Manus works through several cases. In the video, Manus runs on the user's browser, where commands are given in a dialogue box similar to AI chat. After considering the given commands, Manus invokes various functions on the user's device to execute tasks and displays the execution process, such as code writing, in a separate window on the right, ultimately providing users with complete results.

In specific scenarios, the official demonstrated Manus' capabilities with three cases: screening and evaluating over a dozen resumes, filtering purchasable real estate based on requirements, and conducting stock analysis.

In the resume screening scenario, the official sent Manus a compressed file containing 10 resumes. Manus worked like a professional recruiter, automatically decompressing the file and then browsing each resume to record important information. Midway through, the official uploaded five more resumes. After analyzing all 15 resumes, Manus provided ranking suggestions, candidate information, and evaluation criteria for reference. Finally, the official asked Manus to generate an Excel spreadsheet, and Manus could automatically code to generate the corresponding spreadsheet.

Another case involved filtering real estate. The official instruction was to purchase real estate in New York, with requirements for safe, low-crime communities and quality educational resources, combined with an affordable budget for the family. For this request, Manus decomposed the task into multiple steps, creating a to-do list that included reading articles about the safest neighborhoods in New York, calculating the affordable real estate budget through programming, and then filtering listings on real estate websites. Finally, Manus integrated all the information and wrote a detailed report.

Another case involved analyzing the correlation between the stock prices of NVIDIA, Marvell Technology, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company over the past three years. Manus accessed authoritative data sources through APIs, verified the data, wrote code, conducted data analysis and visualization, and provided users with causal insights.

The official stated that Manus can automatically run in the cloud and process files asynchronously, allowing users to close their computers at any time and receive notifications upon completion.

"Monica's newly launched Agent product, Manus, made me feel for the first time like I really hired an intern with subjective initiative to help me continuously work. Moreover, you can temporarily add requirements and assign tasks during the process, looking forward to seeing what results these interns can deliver to me after some time," said a developer after experiencing Manus.

02

The Company and Founder Behind Manus

The company behind Manus is Monica.im, an artificial intelligence technology company founded by Xiao Hong in 2022.

Xiao Hong is a serial entrepreneur born in 1992 who graduated from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. In 2015, post-graduation, he embarked on the entrepreneurial journey, launching "Yiban Assistant" and "Weiban Assistant." "Yiban Assistant" served WeChat public account operators, providing convenient editing, typesetting, and management functions to enhance work efficiency, while "Weiban Assistant" focused on WeChat enterprise customer management, assisting enterprises in maintaining customer relationships and improving conversion rates. Both products achieved success in their respective fields, accumulating a substantial user base and technical experience.

In 2022, with the rise of large models, Xiao Hong recognized the vast potential and development opportunities in the field of artificial intelligence, officially founding Monica.im with a focus on the overseas market. Monica is an All-in-One AI assistant where users can directly access various mainstream models by clicking its browser icon, meeting diverse needs in different scenarios. In 2024, Monica's user base doubled to 10 million, demonstrating its market competitiveness and user recognition.

After founding Monica.im, Xiao Hong led the team in continuously exploring artificial intelligence technology, investing heavily in research and development resources, and striving to create more innovative and practical AI products. Team members come from diverse professional fields, including computer science, mathematics, statistics, and machine learning, laying a solid foundation for Manus' birth. After a lengthy period of technical research and repeated testing and optimization, Manus was officially unveiled on March 6, 2025, immediately capturing the attention of the global technology and investment communities.

Xiao Hong believes that Manus embodies the next-generation paradigm of human-machine collaboration, "giving people a glimpse of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) in advance." He hopes that through Manus, the limitations of traditional AI can be broken, realizing the deep integration of artificial intelligence into human work and life, providing users with a more intelligent, efficient, and convenient service experience, and promoting the application and development of artificial intelligence technology across more fields.

Manus' sudden emergence not only stirred up the technology field but also sent ripples through the capital market. Many related listed companies have shown strong interest and positive attitudes towards it, establishing connections with Manus through various means and seeking cooperation opportunities to drive their own business development and upgrading with this innovative technology.

AVIC Capital, through its subsidiaries, participated in Manus' equity investment. This move reflects its forward-looking layout in the field of emerging technologies. As a financial holding listed company controlled by Aviation Industry Corporation of China, Ltd., AVIC Capital possesses strong capital operation capabilities and rich industrial resources. Investing in Manus is expected to not only yield significant capital appreciation returns but also introduce Manus' advanced AI Agent technology into its core segments such as financial services and industrial investment, enhancing business efficiency and intelligence levels and realizing the deep integration of technology and finance. Through cooperation with Manus, AVIC Capital can utilize Agent technology to optimize financial risk assessment models, improve the accuracy and efficiency of investment decisions, and provide customers with more personalized and intelligent financial services.

Shunwang Technology indirectly holds a stake in Monica.im, the company behind Manus. This shareholding relationship opens up new business expansion opportunities and technological integration possibilities for Shunwang Technology. Shunwang Technology has extensive business experience and a user base in cloud services, gaming, and other fields. Leveraging Manus' technological advantages, Shunwang Technology can innovate and explore areas such as intelligent interaction experience in cloud gaming. For instance, using Manus' Agent technology to achieve more intelligent NPC interactions, personalized game plot generation, and precise game recommendations in cloud gaming, thereby enhancing users' immersion and participation and further consolidating and expanding its competitive advantage in the cloud gaming market.

END

Editor | Xiaoer

Typesetting | Wuyue

Chief Editor | Laochao

Images sourced from the internet