A general artificial intelligence (AI) agent developed by a low-profile team backed by Chinese investors and developers has quickly gained attention in the AI community for its ability to handle complex, real-world tasks.

Manus, currently available as an invitation-only web preview, can execute practical tasks such as creating a custom website through a step-by-step process, according to a demonstration video on its website manus.im.

The website also listed tasks that can be done by the Manus AI agent, which include devising an itinerary for a trip to Japan, providing an in-depth analysis of Tesla’s stock, creating an interactive course for middle-school teachers, comparing different insurance policies, and assisting in business-to-business supplier sourcing, among others.

It also claims that Manus can outperform OpenAI’s Deep Research based on the GAIA benchmark, a third-party measure of general AI assistants.

The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken January 27, 2025. Photo: Reuters

While Manus has provided little information about its corporate structure, its team and underlying models for the agent, the demo video has triggered massive interest. The video, published on X on Wednesday night, had received over 200,000 views by noon Thursday, with many comments asking for an invitation code to try the agent.