Because the normal AI agent Manus was launched final week, it has unfold on-line like wildfire. And never simply in China, the place it was developed by the Wuhan-based startup Butterfly Impact. It’s made its approach into the worldwide dialog, with influential voices in tech, together with Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey and Hugging Face product lead Victor Mustar, praising its efficiency. Some have even dubbed it “the second DeepSeek,” evaluating it to the sooner AI mannequin that took the business abruptly for its sudden capabilities in addition to its origin.
Manus claims to be the world’s first normal AI agent, leveraging a number of AI fashions (similar to Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet and fine-tuned variations of Alibaba’s open-source Qwen) and numerous independently working brokers to behave autonomously on a variety of duties. (This makes it completely different from AI chatbots, together with DeepSeek, that are primarily based on a single massive language mannequin household and are primarily designed for conversational interactions.)
Regardless of all of the hype, only a few individuals have had an opportunity to make use of it. Presently, beneath 1% of the customers on the wait listing have acquired an invitation code. (It’s unclear how many individuals are on this listing, however for a way of how a lot curiosity there’s, Manus’s Discord channel has greater than 186,000 members.)
MIT Know-how Assessment was capable of get hold of entry to Manus, and once I gave it a test-drive, I discovered that utilizing it appears like collaborating with a very smart and environment friendly intern: Whereas it often lacks understanding of what it’s being requested to do, makes incorrect assumptions, or cuts corners to expedite duties, it explains its reasoning clearly, is remarkably adaptable, and may enhance considerably when supplied with detailed directions or suggestions. In the end, it’s promising however not excellent.
Identical to its father or mother firm’s earlier product, an AI assistant known as Monica that was launched in 2023, Manus is meant for a world viewers. English is ready because the default language, and its design is clear and minimalist.
To get in, a consumer has to enter a sound invite code. Then the system directs customers to a touchdown web page that intently resembles these of ChatGPT or DeepSeek, with earlier periods displayed in a left-hand column and a chat enter field within the middle. The touchdown web page additionally options pattern duties curated by the corporate—starting from enterprise technique growth to interactive studying to personalised audio meditation periods.
Like different reasoning-based agentic AI instruments, similar to ChatGPT DeepResearch, Manus is able to breaking duties down into steps and autonomously navigating the net to get the knowledge it wants to finish them. What units it aside is the “Manus’s Laptop” window, which permits customers not solely to watch what the agent is doing but in addition to intervene at any level.
To place it to the check, I gave Manus three assignments: (1) compile a listing of notable reporters protecting China tech, (2) seek for two-bedroom property listings in New York Metropolis, and (3) nominate potential candidates for Innovators Beneath 35, a listing created by MIT Know-how Assessment yearly.
Right here’s the way it did:
Activity 1: The primary listing of reporters that Manus gave me contained solely 5 names, with 5 “honorable mentions” beneath them. I observed that it listed some journalists’ notable work however didn’t do that for others. I requested Manus why. The explanation it provided was hilariously easy: It bought lazy. It was “partly because of time constraints as I attempted to expedite the analysis course of,” the agent instructed me. After I insisted on consistency and thoroughness, Manus responded with a complete listing of 30 journalists, noting their present outlet and itemizing notable work. (I used to be glad to see I made the reduce, together with a lot of my beloved friends.)
I used to be impressed that I used to be capable of make top-level options for adjustments, a lot as somebody would with a real-life intern or assistant, and that it responded appropriately. And whereas it initially neglected adjustments in some journalists’ employer standing, once I requested it to revisit some outcomes, it rapidly corrected them. One other good characteristic: The output was downloadable as a Phrase or Excel file, making it simple to edit or share with others.
Manus hit a snag, although, when accessing journalists’ information articles behind paywalls; it often encountered captcha blocks. Since I used to be capable of observe alongside step-by-step, I might simply take over to finish these, although many media websites nonetheless blocked the instrument, citing suspicious exercise. I see potential for main enhancements right here—and it might be helpful if a future model of Manus might proactively ask for assist when it encounters these kinds of restrictions.
Activity 2: For the condo search, I gave Manus a posh set of standards, together with a funds and a number of other parameters: a spacious kitchen, out of doors house, entry to downtown Manhattan, and a serious prepare station inside a seven-minute stroll. Manus initially interpreted imprecise necessities like “some form of out of doors house” too actually, utterly excluding properties with no personal terrace or balcony entry. Nonetheless, after extra steerage and clarification, it was capable of compile a broader and extra useful listing, giving suggestions in tiers and neat bullet factors.
The ultimate output felt straight from Wirecutter, containing subtitles like “greatest general,” “greatest worth,” and “luxurious choice.” This activity (together with the back-and-forth) took lower than half an hour—so much much less time than compiling the listing of journalists (which took slightly over an hour), doubtless as a result of property listings are extra brazenly out there and well-structured on-line.
Activity 3: This was the most important in scope: I requested Manus to appoint 50 individuals for this 12 months’s Innovators Beneath 35 listing. Producing this listing is a gigantic enterprise, and we sometimes get lots of of nominations yearly. So I used to be curious to see how properly Manus might do. It broke the duty into steps, together with reviewing previous lists to know choice standards, making a search technique for figuring out candidates, compiling names, and making certain a various number of candidates from everywhere in the world.
Creating a search technique was essentially the most time-consuming half for Manus. Whereas it didn’t explicitly define its method, the Manus’s Laptop window revealed the agent quickly scrolling by web sites of prestigious analysis universities, bulletins of tech awards, and information articles. Nonetheless, it once more encountered obstacles when making an attempt to entry educational papers and paywalled media content material.
After three hours of scouring the web—throughout which Manus (understandably) requested me a number of occasions whether or not I might slender the search—it was solely capable of give me three candidates with full background profiles. After I pressed it once more to offer an entire listing of fifty names, it will definitely generated one, however sure educational establishments and fields have been closely overrepresented, reflecting an incomplete analysis course of. After I identified the problem and requested it to search out 5 candidates from China, it managed to compile a strong five-name listing, although the outcomes skewed towards Chinese language media darlings. In the end, I had to surrender after the system warned that Manus’s efficiency may decline if I stored inputting an excessive amount of textual content.
My evaluation: General, I discovered Manus to be a extremely intuitive instrument appropriate for customers with or with out coding backgrounds. On two of the three duties, it offered higher outcomes than ChatGPT DeepResearch, although it took considerably longer to finish them. Manus appears greatest suited to analytical duties that require in depth analysis on the open web however have a restricted scope. In different phrases, it’s greatest to stay to the types of issues a talented human intern might do throughout a day of labor.
Nonetheless, it’s not all clean crusing. Manus can endure from frequent crashes and system instability, and it might battle when requested to course of massive chunks of textual content. The message “Because of the present excessive service load, duties can’t be created. Please strive once more in a couple of minutes” flashed on my display screen a number of occasions once I tried to begin new requests, and infrequently Manus’s Laptop froze on a sure web page for a protracted time frame.
It has the next failure fee than ChatGPT DeepResearch—an issue the crew is addressing, in accordance to Manus’s chief scientist, Peak Ji. That stated, the Chinese language media outlet 36Kr stories that Manus’s per-task price is about $2, which is simply one-tenth of DeepResearch’s price. If the Manus crew strengthens its server infrastructure, I can see the instrument changing into a most popular alternative for particular person customers, significantly white-collar professionals, impartial builders, and small groups.
Lastly, I feel it’s actually invaluable that Manus’s working course of feels comparatively clear and collaborative. It actively asks questions alongside the way in which and retains key directions as “information” in its reminiscence for future use, permitting for an simply customizable agentic expertise. It’s additionally very nice that every session is replayable and shareable.
I anticipate I’ll maintain utilizing Manus for all kinds of duties, in each my private {and professional} lives. Whereas I’m undecided the comparisons to DeepSeek are fairly proper, it serves as additional proof that Chinese language AI corporations should not simply following within the footsteps of their Western counterparts. Reasonably than simply innovating on base fashions, they’re actively shaping the adoption of autonomous AI brokers in their very own approach.