In a recent development in the world of AI, Butterfly Effect, a Chinese AI startup behind Manus AI, has raised $75 million in a round led by US venture capital outfit Benchmark, pushing its valuation to $500 million. This massive investment is a sign of growing worldwide interest in developing AI bots capable of complex, multi-step operations on their own. Butterfly Effect will employ the funding to build its AI platform, Manus, into strategic global markets including the United States, Japan, and the Middle East.

Manus AI: Redefining Task Automation

Butterfly Effect, the Chinese technology firm that owns the AI platform Manus, raised $75 million in a funding round led by US venture capital firm Benchmark. The latest investment, which had current investors join in, valued the company at about $500 million. Bloomberg reports that;

“The Silicon Valley investor was joined by several of the startup’s existing backers in a $75 million funding that roughly quintupled its valuation to almost half a billion dollars, people familiar with the matter said. The company behind Manus, Butterfly Effect, intends to use the capital to expand its service to other markets including the US, Japan and the Middle East, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations.”

Manus gained news coverage following its beta launch in March, attracting the attention of AI developers and IT executives for its capacity to manage digital tasks like resume screening, travel booking, and stock analysis. In contrast with other AI solutions, Manus actively browses the internet to accomplish tasks with minimal human involvement, offering a more active task-automation approach.

Manus co-founder and chief scientist Ji Yichao describes Manus as a major leap towards AI-human cooperation, intended to move beyond simple automation and become an organic part of day-to-day processes. Although AI agents often need some degree of guidance, Yichao claims that their product is “truly autonomous.” He said in a statement:

“Manus isn’t just another chatbot or workflow. It’s a completely autonomous agent that bridges the gap between conception and execution […] We see it as the next paradigm of human-machine collaboration.”

Manus’ success comes at a time of growing global interest in AI solutions coming out of China, fueled in part by DeepSeek’s previous ascension. Butterfly Effect claims that its AI agent surpassed OpenAI’s Deep Research in several areas, boosting industry interest. Furthermore, to capitalise this love, the firm has created a subscription plan of $39 per month, which has already generated a 2.6 million-member waitlist.

With fresh funding, Butterfly Effect will expand its presence in foreign regions like the United States, Japan, and the Middle East. Backed by major investors such as Tencent, ZhenFund, and HSG, Butterfly Effect is quickly emerging as a key player in the competitive landscape of AI-powered digital agents.

Regulatory Environment and Strategic Investment

Benchmark’s investment in Manus follows US scrutiny of AI-related investments in China increasing. Although recent restrictions have focused on companies developing sophisticated models and chips, Manus’s emphasis on applied AI agents will most likely exclude it from the current regulatory regime. Some US investors continue to explore China’s AI application layer, where regulatory issues are fewer.

This transaction is a rare U.S.-China AI investment, both indicative of the promise and complexity of cross-border tech collaboration. With AI agents on the rise in business and consumer applications, Manus and other firms could define the future of digital work.