AIBRIEF
The AI assistant Manus is going independent; users whose data was created on or after December 29, 2025 have until August 23 to export it before deletion.
The AI assistant Manus will delete data created on or after December 29, 2025 unless affected users export it first, the company said in an August 11–12 notice. The free backup window closes at 7:59 a.m. Singapore time (SGT, UTC+8) on August 23, 2026. Deletion runs from one minute later through August 24.
Users outside that cohort do nothing. Manus says restored data becomes available again from 8:00 a.m. SGT on August 25, with "welcome back bonuses" for affected accounts that return.
The deletion is the operational cost of Manus returning to independent operations after its December 2025 acquisition by Meta, a deal Reuters and CNBC report is unwinding under Chinese regulatory pressure. TechCrunch originally reported the deal at roughly $2 billion, though no official filing has confirmed the price.
Affected users will be reached in-app and by email. Anyone who registered through Apple ID or Facebook will see the prompt in-app only, because Manus does not hold their email addresses. The company has not named the specific Chinese regulator behind the unwind, and the Hacker News thread around the news has questioned both the price tag and real-world adoption.