Meta Drops Billions on Manus: Acquires Butterfly Effect in Its Third-Largest Deal Ever, Supercharging General AI Agent Ambitions
On December 29, 2025, Meta Platforms announced the multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Butterfly Effect — the Singapore-based parent company behind breakout general-purpose AI agent Manus. Valued between $2-3 billion, this marks Meta's third-biggest deal in history (behind WhatsApp and Scale AI), instantly injecting proven agentic tech into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta AI. With Manus already boasting $125M+ ARR just months after launch, the move catapults Meta into the lead of the agentic AI race while sending shockwaves through the industry.
Beyond Slides: AI Agent Edition Launches, Unveils "Deep Research" Beta for Automated Knowledge Synthesis
The AI presentation tool landscape is evolving from design automation to intelligent content generation. AI PPT, a prominent player in the field, has officially launched its "Agent Edition" and opened a limited beta test for its groundbreaking "Deep Research" feature. This move signifies a strategic shift from assisting with slide aesthetics to empowering users with AI-driven content discovery, analysis, and synthesis, aiming to tackle the foundational challenge of presentation creation: knowledge gathering and structuring.
