Produced by Hongtu, Radar Finance | Written by Meng Shuai | Edited by Shen Hai

After DeepSeek, another AI creation by a Chinese team, Manus, has swiftly garnered immense popularity online, instantaneously becoming the new sensation in the domestic AI landscape.

What captivates attention about Manus is its groundbreaking departure from traditional large AI models. It not only offers suggestions or answers but also directly generates complete task results, showcasing remarkable practicality.

With Manus's sudden surge in popularity, its founder, Xiao Hong, has also catapulted into the limelight. This young post-90s entrepreneur, who majored in Software Engineering at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, is seven years younger than Liang Wenfeng, the founder of DeepSeek.

Xiao Hong's entrepreneurial journey is a series of successes. As a college student, he led a team in various projects. Post-graduation, he founded Nightingale Technology and launched well-received products such as OneMate Assistant and WeMate Assistant.

In 2022, Xiao Hong keenly recognized the vast potential of the AI industry and embarked on a new venture, founding Butterfly Effect and launching the AI browser plugin Monica. The launch of Manus has further solidified Xiao Hong's reputation in the AI community.

However, Manus's rapid rise has also sparked doubts. Since the product is still in beta testing, invitation codes for Manus have become scarce, even fetching prices exceeding 100,000 yuan on second-hand platforms. Some netizens have questioned whether Manus's popularity is merely a marketing hype. Additionally, Manus's "shell" mode has become a focal point of controversy.

Amidst the various doubts and speculations, Manus AI partner Zhang Tao clarified that Manus does not offer paid invitation codes and has not invested in any marketing budgets. The invitation code mechanism is due to limited server capacity. The team underestimated users' enthusiasm and is working tirelessly to expand server capacity.

Manus has swept across the Chinese internet, becoming the next "national-level" AI product?

Overnight, Manus stormed the Chinese internet. Phrases like "another national-level AI product is born," "Chinese AI technology shocks the world again," and "ChatGPT moment for intelligent agents" instantly emerged.

According to Baidu Index, on March 5, Manus's Baidu search index was 0, but just one day later, it soared to over 510,000. Similarly, the WeChat index showed a surge: Manus's WeChat index rose from 3,026 on March 4 to 489,817 on March 5, peaking at 248 million on March 6 and 552 million on March 7 before fluctuating and declining.

So, what is this Manus that has captivated the internet? Manus is the world's first general-purpose Agent product meticulously crafted by the Chinese team Monica. According to the team, Manus achieved SOTA (State-of-the-Art) results in the GAIA benchmark test, indicating its performance surpasses OpenAI's large models at the same level.

The team named the product "Manus" because "Manus" means "hand" in Latin, symbolizing that knowledge should not only be conceptual but also realized through action. For users, Manus, positioned as a powerful general-purpose assistant, can not only provide ideas but also implement them to truly solve problems.

Officially, Manus is not merely a conversational AI tool but a true autonomous agent. Cases on the official website demonstrate its ability to independently think, plan, and execute complex tasks, directly delivering complete results.

Whether it's report writing, spreadsheet creation, resume screening, travel planning, stock analysis, or PPT creation, Manus can handle them effortlessly. Compared to products like ChatGPT and DeepSeek, Manus can directly export user-specific products after task completion and display the execution process.

In an official video demonstration, Manus showcased its powerful resume screening ability: When a user sends it a Zip file containing multiple resumes, Manus functions like a human, unzipping the file, browsing through the resumes, recording key information, and compiling additional materials such as ranking suggestions, candidate profiles, and evaluation criteria.

Moreover, Manus features asynchronous cloud operation, allowing users to close their computers and wait for Manus to notify them upon task completion.

Affected by Manus's viral popularity, the A-share market witnessed a new wave of capital frenzy, with multiple AI agent concept stocks hitting their daily limits.

The founder behind the scenes is a post-90s serial entrepreneur

As Manus attracts immense online traffic, its founding team has also garnered widespread attention. Leading this innovative and dynamic team is Xiao Hong, a Software Engineering graduate from Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Xiao Hong, a post-90s entrepreneur born in 1992, is even seven years younger than Liang Wenfeng, the founder of DeepSeek. Since childhood, Xiao Hong has demonstrated exceptional learning abilities. During high school, he garnered hundreds of thousands of readers with his software review blog and was hailed as a "computer genius".

Xiao Hong's entrepreneurial journey began early. As a college student, he actively participated in various projects and served as the deputy captain of the Union Creation Team at Qiming College, leading the team to develop functions like WeChat drifting bottles and WeChat wall within the school. These experiences initially validated his keen insight into technology and user needs.

In 2015, post-graduation, he founded Nightingale Technology with his alumni, focusing on the research, development, and promotion of applications within the WeChat ecosystem. The company launched products like OneMate Assistant and WeMate Assistant, winning the favor of renowned investment institutions such as Tencent and ZhenFund, serving over 2 million B-end users and helping enterprises reach hundreds of millions of C-end users.

Despite his remarkable achievements, Xiao Hong remained focused. In 2022, when large AI models sparked global enthusiasm, Xiao Hong seized the opportunity and founded Butterfly Effect.

In 2022, sensing the potential of AI, Xiao Hong once again embarked on a new venture, founding Butterfly Effect. After its establishment, Xiao Hong led the team to launch the AI browser plugin Monica, which garnered support from millions of users worldwide. The launch of Manus has further cemented Xiao Hong's reputation in the AI community, making him an instant star of AI entrepreneurship.

Radar Finance learned that Butterfly Effect's mainland affiliates include Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology Co., Ltd., and Beijing Red Butterfly Technology Co., Ltd. Tianyancha shows that these two companies were established in April 2022 and July 2023, respectively, and both have branches in Wuhan.

According to media reports, the Manus project was a collaborative effort between teams in Beijing and Wuhan, with the Beijing team initiating and conducting research and development a year ago. After a year, Manus had a rough prototype, and the team was pleasantly surprised by the results after internal testing for several months, leading to the recent beta version launch.

The person introducing Manus on the official website is Ji Yichao, the company's co-founder and chief scientist. He graduated from Beijing Information Science and Technology University, once developed the Mammoth browser, and received angel investments from ZhenFund and Sequoia China. He even appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine at 19 and was selected for the "30 under 30" list multiple times.

It's worth noting that although Manus is not yet open to all users, many companies have applied to register the "MANUS" trademark. However, these applications do not originate from enterprises related to the Manus product.

According to Tianyancha, the "MANUS" trademark has been applied for registration by multiple parties such as Manus Biotechnology Company and Shaoxing Sloth Home Furnishing Co., Ltd., with international classifications covering home furnishing, daily chemicals, advertising and sales, and other fields. Currently, some enterprises and individuals have successfully registered the "MANUS" trademark.

Behind Manus's popularity, doubts persist

Manus has swiftly become popular overnight, but amidst this enthusiasm, doubts persist.

Radar Finance learned that since Manus is still in beta testing, users need an invitation code to join, causing many eager users to be turned away.

Consequently, Manus invitation codes became highly sought-after, even causing the official registration page to crash at one point. Radar Finance's search revealed numerous postings on second-hand platforms like Xianyu selling Manus invitation codes, with prices soaring to 100,000 yuan or more.

A seller offering a price of 50,000 yuan stated they would not accept bargaining, saying, "This is the current market price. The quantity is too limited, and it's very rare." Besides invitation codes, many sellers also listed Manus courses on their shelves.

Faced with the scarcity of invitation codes, numerous netizens have been pleading for them online. However, many have simultaneously questioned whether Manus's popularity is merely a grand, orchestrated marketing event.

Some netizens commented, "Manus has been all over my screen these two days... I can only say it has a strong marketing flavor. Limited experience before open beta testing, with overwhelming self-media recommendations but no real user feedback... DeepSeek became popular by directly allowing everyone to use it..."

Another netizen remarked, "This Manus product is bizarre. It's boiling hot domestically but silent abroad. Suddenly, viral marketing, and everyone is begging for invitation codes. There are no technical experts in the circle, but it seems like self-media people have them. It seems targeted at domestic users, but the promotional video is entirely in English with Chinese subtitles."

According to Sina Tech, another media person said, "When I woke up this morning, I found many technology media and big Vs publishing headlines about a product called Manus AI, 'ChatGPT moment for intelligent agents,' 'DeepSeek moment for agents,' I'm ignorant; I've never heard of it before." After searching foreign websites, this person found that apart from an official video with a few thousand views on YouTube, there seemed to be no other promotion of this product.

Amidst the various doubts, on March 6, Manus AI partner Zhang Tao clarified on social media that he appreciated everyone's attention to Manus but they had never offered paid channels for invitation codes or invested in any marketing budgets. During beta testing, system capacity is limited, and they prioritize ensuring the core experience of existing users while gradually and orderly releasing invitation codes.

Zhang Tao also stated in a message to actual test users that the team had underestimated users' enthusiasm. Their initial intention was to share the initial findings during the exploration of the agent product form, so server resources were prepared based on industry standards for releasing a demo, never anticipating such a significant response.

Zhang Tao explained that the current invitation code mechanism is due to the limited server capacity, which is unavoidable. The team has been working around the clock, hoping to allow more users on the waitlist to experience Manus in the coming days.

Another significant controversy surrounding Manus is its "shell" issue, i.e., Manus does not have the ability to independently develop large underlying models. Regarding this, two days before the product launch, Xiao Hong posted on social media, "In 2025, Chatbots are crossing the second chasm, and Agents are crossing the first chasm. In the next six months, there will be many excellent opportunities for battle... Finally, please believe that shells have their uses!"

It's worth mentioning that, according to Sanyan Tech, on March 7, some netizens discovered that Manus's account registered on platform X was frozen, indicating a violation of platform rules. Reportedly, Manus had publicly solicited user needs on the platform that day, with many netizens leaving comments to post their needs. Subsequently, the account was unfrozen, posting, "We're back."

"The Manus you see now is still an infant, far from the experience we want to deliver in the official version. There's still much room for improvement in areas like model illusion, deliverable friendliness, and running speed," Zhang Tao said, hoping for more understanding and support amidst mixed feedback.

Overnight sensation Manus: A representation of the rise of "national-level" AI products or a mediocre work of marketing hype? Let's wait and see.