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Manus , an “ agentic ” AI platform that launched in preview last week , is generating more hype than a Taylor Swift concert .
The head of mathematical product at Hugging Facecalled Manus“the most impressive AI tool I ’ve ever render . ” AI insurance researcher Dean BalldescribedManus as the “ most sophisticated figurer using AI . ” Theofficial Discord serverfor Manus develop to over 138,000 members in just a few days , and invite computer code for Manus arereportedlyselling for thousands of dollars on Formosan reseller app Xianyu .
But it ’s not unmortgaged the hoopla is apologize .
excellenthttps://t.co/TfeV9QZ1d0
— squat ( @jack)March 9 , 2025
Manus was n’t developed entirely from scratch . According to reportson social medium , the platform use a combination of subsist and all right - tuned AI simulation , including Anthropic ’s Claude and Alibaba ’s Qwen , to do tasks such as drafting inquiry reports and analyzing fiscal filings .
Yet on its website , Butterfly Effect — the Chinese startup behind Manus — gives a few wild object lesson of what the program purportedly can accomplish , from grease one’s palms material estate to program picture games .
In aviral videoon X , Yichao “ Peak ” Ji , a research lead for Manus , implied that the platform was ranking to agentic tools such as OpenAI’sdeep researchandOperator . Manus outdo cryptical research on a popular bench mark for general AI assistants call GAIA , Ji claimed , which probes an AI ’s ability to dribble out work by range the connection , using computer software , and more .
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“ [ Manus ] is n’t just another chatbot or workflow , ” Ji say in the video . “ It ’s a all autonomous agent that bridges the gap between conception and execution [ … ] We see it as the next paradigm of human - machine collaboration . ”
But some early user say that Manus is no panacea .
Alexander Doria , the atomic number 27 - founder of AI inauguration Pleias , said in a post on Xthat he encountered fault messages and dateless loops while testing Manus . Other X userspointed out that Manus makes mistakes on actual questionsanddoesn’t systematically cite its piece of work — andoften neglect information that ’s easily find online .
Deep Research finished in under 15 minutes . Unfortunately , Manus AI failed after 50 minutes at step 18/20 ! 😑 It was performing quite well - I was watching Manus ’ end product & it seemed first-class . However , race the same command prompt a second time is a bit thwarting as it takes too long!https://t.co / bGtmOI65CP
— Derya Unutmaz , MD ( @DeryaTR_)March 8 , 2025
My own experience with Manus has n’t been incredibly positive .
I asked the program to handle what seemed to me like a jolly square request : order a fried chicken sandwich from a top - range fast solid food juncture in my delivery range . After about 10 transactions , Manus doss . On the second effort , it find a carte point that met my standard , but Manus could n’t fill out the ordination process — or render a checkout link , even .
Manus likewise whiffed when I ask it to book a flying from NYC to Japan . open instructions that I think did n’t leave behind much room for ambiguity ( e.g. “ look for a business - course flight , prioritize price and flexible particular date ” ) , the best Manus could do was function up links to fares across several airway web site and airfare hunt engines like Kayak , some of which were broken .
Hoping the next few tasks might be the spell , I told Manus to hold a board for one at a eating house within walking distance . It fail after a few second . Then I ask the platform to build a Naruto - inspired scrap game . It errored out half an 60 minutes in , which is when I decided to throw in the towel .
reliable opinion after trying Manus AI for the last 3 days , here ’s the good and the sorry .
Good : – The research it does on the net and the story it return are unbelievable . – Its power to run script behind the scenes to execute chore is impressive . – The plans it …
— AshutoshShrivastava ( @ai_for_success)March 9 , 2025
A voice for Manus sent TechCrunch the follow statement via DM :
“ As a small team , our focus is to keep improve Manus and make AI agent that actually help substance abuser work out problems [ … ] The elemental goal of the current closed in beta is to stress - test various share of the system and identify issues . We deeply apprise the valuable insights shared by everyone . ”
So if Manus is fall short of its technical promises , why did it blow up ? A few factors contributed , such as the exclusivity created by ascarcity of invites .
Chinese media was quick to tout Manus as an AI breakthrough;publication QQ News call in it“the pride of domesticated products . ” Meanwhile , AI influencers on social medium spread misinformation about Manus ’ capabilities . Awidely share videoshowed a background programme , apparently Manus , rent action at law across multiple smartphone apps . Ji confirmedthat the video was n’t , in fact , a demonstration of Manus .
OtherinfluentialAIaccountson X attempt to pull back comparisons between Manus and Chinese AI companyDeepSeek — comparisons not necessarily rooted in fact . Butterfly Effect did n’t educate modelling in - house , unlike DeepSeek . And while DeepSeek made many of its engineering openly uncommitted , Butterfly Effect has n’t — at least not yet .
To be fair to Butterfly Effect , Manus is in early access . The company claims it ’s working to scale computing capacity and fix issue as they ’re cover . But as the platform currently exists , Manus look to be a case of ballyhoo go forward of technological creation .
Updated 6:02 p.m. Pacific : lend a assertion from a Manus spokesperson and corrected a misidentification of the fellowship behind Manus .
