Key Takeaways
- Chinese AI agent Manus faces skepticism due to server capacity issues limiting user access after its launch.
- The team behind Manus admitted to underestimating public interest and stated the product is still in early development.
- Manus’ social media account was suspended, potentially due to unrelated scams exploiting its popularity.
General-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) agent Manus, developed by a Chinese team, has attracted attention for its ability to manage complex tasks. However, its rollout has been marked by skepticism regarding its technological capabilities, largely due to limited accessibility stemming from server capacity constraints. Following its recent launch, very few users have been able to test Manus, prompting discussions about its viability and functionality.
Investors have hailed Manus as another technological breakthrough, especially following the success of low-cost AI models from DeepSeek. Despite this excitement, the availability of Manus has been restricted due to high demand. In an unusual turn, the Manus team has employed an invitation-only mechanism to control access, which spurred a surge in demand among users eager to try out the product. Reports have surfaced that some users are selling Manus invitation codes on China’s second-hand marketplace, Xianyu, and even renting out accounts, leading to criticism that the scarcity of access may have been a marketing strategy by the development team.
Zhang Tao, a product partner at Manus AI, addressed the situation on social media, clarifying that the invite-only approach was a result of genuine limitations in server capacity. He apologized for the oversight, stating that the team underestimated public enthusiasm and had initially planned server resources to accommodate only demonstration-level access. Despite considerable interest, Zhang emphasized that the current version of Manus is still in its early stages and far from achieving the team’s ultimate goals for the product.
In addition to the access issues, the Manus team’s official account on the social media platform X was suspended for violating platform rules. Co-founder and chief scientist Yichao Ji stated that the team is actively working with X to resolve this suspension. This incident may be related to scams carried out by unrelated third-party accounts that sought to exploit the traffic generated by Manus, further clouding its launch with complications.
As Manus continues to garner interest, the development team appears focused on scaling the technology and improving server capacity to meet user demand. The product’s future depends on overcoming these initial challenges and successfully delivering on its promises of advanced AI capabilities.
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