Manus, an “agentic” AI platform that launched in preview final week, is producing extra hype than a Taylor Swift live performance.
The head of product at Hugging Face referred to as Manus “probably the most spectacular AI instrument I’ve ever tried.” AI coverage researcher Dean Ball described Manus because the “most subtle pc utilizing AI.” The official Discord server for Manus grew to over 138,000 members in only a few days, and invite codes for Manus are reportedly promoting for 1000’s of {dollars} on Chinese reseller app Xianyu.
But it’s not clear the hype is justified.
glorious
— jack (@jack) March 9, 2025
Manus wasn’t developed completely from scratch. According to reviews on social media, the platform makes use of a mix of present and fine-tuned AI fashions, together with Anthropic’s Claude and Alibaba’s Qwen, to carry out duties equivalent to drafting analysis reviews and analyzing monetary filings.
Yet on its web site, Monica — the Chinese startup behind Manus — provides a number of wild examples of what the platform supposedly can accomplish, from shopping for actual property to programming video video games.
In a viral video on X, Yichao “Peak” Ji, a analysis lead for Manus, implied that the platform was superior to agentic instruments equivalent to OpenAI’s deep analysis and Operator. Manus outperforms deep analysis on a preferred benchmark for normal AI assistants referred to as GAIA, Ji claimed, which probes an AI’s means to hold out work by shopping the online, utilizing software program, and extra.
“[Manus] isn’t simply one other chatbot or workflow,” Ji mentioned within the video. “It’s a very autonomous agent that bridges the hole between conception and execution […] We see it as the following paradigm of human-machine collaboration.”
But some early customers say that Manus isn’t any panacea.
Alexander Doria, the co-founder of AI startup Pleias, mentioned in a put up on X that he encountered error messages and countless loops whereas testing Manus. Other X customers identified that Manus makes errors on factual questions and doesn’t persistently cite its work — and infrequently misses info that’s simply discovered on-line.
Deep Research completed in underneath quarter-hour. Unfortunately, Manus AI failed after 50 minutes at step 18/20! 😑 It was performing fairly well-I used to be watching Manus’ output & it appeared glorious. However, working the identical immediate a second time is a bit irritating because it takes too lengthy!
— Derya Unutmaz, MD (@DeryaTR_) March 8, 2025
My personal expertise with Manus hasn’t been extremely constructive.
I requested the platform to deal with what appeared to me like a fairly simple request: order a fried hen sandwich from a top-rated quick meals joint in my supply vary. After about ten minutes, Manus crashed. On the second try, it discovered a menu merchandise that met my standards, however Manus couldn’t full the ordering course of — or present a checkout hyperlink, even.
Manus equally whiffed once I requested it to e-book a flight from NYC to Japan. Given directions that I assumed didn’t depart a lot room for ambiguity (e.g. “search for a business-class flight, prioritizing worth and versatile dates”), the perfect Manus may do was serve up hyperlinks to fares throughout a number of airline web sites and airfare search engines like google like Kayak, a few of which have been damaged.
Hoping the following few duties may be the attraction, I advised Manus to order a desk for one at a restaurant inside strolling distance. It failed after a couple of minutes. Then I requested the platform to construct a Naruto-inspired combating recreation. It errored out half an hour in, which is once I determined to throw within the towel.
Honest opinion after making an attempt Manus AI for the final 3 days, right here’s the great and the unhealthy.
Good:
– The analysis it does on the web and the reviews it generates are unimaginable.
– Its means to run scripts behind the scenes to execute duties is spectacular.
– The plans it…— AshutoshShrivastava (@ai_for_success) March 9, 2025
We’ve reached out to Monica for remark and can replace this put up if we hear again.
So if Manusis is falling in need of its technical guarantees, why did it blow up? A number of components contributed, such because the exclusivity created by a shortage of invitations.
Chinese media was fast to tout Manus as an AI breakthrough; publication QQ News referred to as it “the satisfaction of home merchandise.” Meanwhile, AI influencers on social media unfold misinformation about Manus’ capabilities. A widely-shared video confirmed a desktop program, ostensibly Manus, taking motion throughout a number of smartphone apps. Ji confirmed that the video wasn’t, in reality, a demo of Manus.
Other influential AI accounts on X sought to attract comparisons between Manus and Chinese AI firm DeepSearch — comparisons not essentially rooted in reality. Monica didn’t develop in-house fashions, in contrast to DeepSearch. And whereas DeepSearch made a lot of its applied sciences overtly out there, Monica hasn’t — no less than not fairly but.
To be honest to Monica, Manus is in early entry. The firm claims it’s working to scale computing capability and repair points as they’re reported. But because the platform presently exists, Manus seems to be a case of hype working forward of technological innovation.
