Because the basic 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 trade unexpectedly for its surprising capabilities in addition to its origin.
Manus claims to be the world’s first basic AI agent, utilizing a number of AI fashions (reminiscent of 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 based mostly 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. At present, underneath 1% of the customers on the wait record have acquired an invitation code. (It’s unclear how many individuals are on this record, however for a way of how a lot curiosity there may be, Manus’s Discord channel has greater than 186,000 members.)
MIT Expertise Assessment was capable of acquire entry to Manus, and once I gave it a test-drive, I discovered that utilizing it looks like collaborating with a very smart and environment friendly intern: Whereas it sometimes 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 might enhance considerably when supplied with detailed directions or suggestions. In the end, it’s promising however not good.
Identical to its father or mother firm’s earlier product, an AI assistant referred to as Monica that was launched in 2023, Manus is meant for a worldwide viewers. English is about because the default language, and its design is clear and minimalist.
To get in, a person 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 heart. The touchdown web page additionally options pattern duties curated by the corporate—starting from enterprise technique improvement to interactive studying to personalized audio meditation periods.
Like different reasoning-based agentic AI instruments, reminiscent of ChatGPT DeepResearch, Manus is able to breaking duties down into steps and autonomously navigating the online to get the data it wants to finish them. What units it aside is the “Manus’s Pc” window, which permits customers not solely to look at what the agent is doing but in addition to intervene at any level.
To place it to the take a look at, I gave Manus three assignments: (1) compile a listing of notable reporters overlaying China tech, (2) seek for two-bedroom property listings in New York Metropolis, and (3) nominate potential candidates for Innovators Under 35, a listing created by MIT Expertise Assessment yearly.
Right here’s the way it did:
Process 1: The primary record 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 rationale it provided was hilariously easy: It bought lazy. It was “partly as a result of time constraints as I attempted to expedite the analysis course of,” the agent advised me. After I insisted on consistency and thoroughness, Manus responded with a complete record of 30 journalists, noting their present outlet and itemizing notable work. (I used to be glad to see I made the lower, together with a lot of my beloved friends.)
I used to be impressed that I used to be capable of make top-level solutions for modifications, a lot as somebody would with a real-life intern or assistant, and that it responded appropriately. And whereas it initially neglected modifications 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 straightforward to edit or share with others.
Manus hit a snag, although, when accessing journalists’ information articles behind paywalls; it incessantly encountered captcha blocks. Since I used to be capable of comply with alongside step-by-step, I might simply take over to finish these, although many media websites nonetheless blocked the device, 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.
Process 2: For the condo search, I gave Manus a posh set of standards, together with a finances and several other parameters: a spacious kitchen, out of doors area, entry to downtown Manhattan, and a significant practice station inside a seven-minute stroll. Manus initially interpreted obscure necessities like “some form of out of doors area” too actually, fully excluding properties with out a non-public terrace or balcony entry. Nonetheless, after extra steerage and clarification, it was capable of compile a broader and extra useful record, giving suggestions in tiers and neat bullet factors.
The ultimate output felt straight from Wirecutter, containing subtitles like “finest total,” “finest worth,” and “luxurious possibility.” This process (together with the back-and-forth) took lower than half an hour—rather a lot much less time than compiling the record of journalists (which took slightly over an hour), possible as a result of property listings are extra overtly accessible and well-structured on-line.
Process 3: This was the most important in scope: I requested Manus to appoint 50 individuals for this yr’s Innovators Beneath 35 record. Producing this record is a gigantic enterprise, and we sometimes get tons of of nominations yearly. So I used to be curious to see how effectively Manus might do. It broke the duty into steps, together with reviewing previous lists to grasp choice standards, making a search technique for figuring out candidates, compiling names, and guaranteeing a various collection of candidates from all around the world.
Creating a search technique was probably the most time-consuming half for Manus. Whereas it didn’t explicitly define its strategy, the Manus’s Pc window revealed the agent quickly scrolling by means of web sites of prestigious analysis universities, bulletins of tech awards, and information articles. Nonetheless, it once more encountered obstacles when attempting 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 a whole record 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 difficulty and requested it to search out 5 candidates from China, it managed to compile a stable five-name record, 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 saved inputting an excessive amount of textual content.
My evaluation: Total, I discovered Manus to be a extremely intuitive device appropriate for customers with or with out coding backgrounds. On two of the three duties, it supplied higher outcomes than ChatGPT DeepResearch, although it took considerably longer to finish them. Manus appears finest suited to analytical duties that require intensive analysis on the open web however have a restricted scope. In different phrases, it’s finest to stay to the types of issues a talented human intern might do throughout a day of labor.
Nonetheless, it’s not all easy 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 attempt once more in a couple of minutes” flashed on my display screen a number of occasions once I tried to begin new requests, and sometimes Manus’s Pc froze on a sure web page for a protracted time frame.
It has the next failure charge than ChatGPT DeepResearch—an issue the workforce is addressing, according to Manus’s chief scientist, Peak Ji. That mentioned, the Chinese language media outlet 36Kr experiences that Manus’s per-task price is about $2, which is simply one-tenth of DeepResearch’s price. If the Manus workforce strengthens its server infrastructure, I can see the device changing into a most popular selection for particular person customers, notably white-collar professionals, unbiased builders, and small groups.
Lastly, I feel it’s actually priceless 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 hold 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 usually are not simply following within the footsteps of their Western counterparts. Quite than simply innovating on base fashions, they’re actively shaping the adoption of autonomous AI brokers in their very own approach.
