China has blocked the takeover of the AI start-up Manus by the US tech giant Meta.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced on Monday that the authority responsible for security reviews of foreign investments had banned the deal, and had instructed the parties involved to reverse the transaction.

Manus develops AI agents, which are designed not only to answer questions, but also to perform more complex tasks with minimal human intervention.

The company has its roots in China but later relocated its headquarters to Singapore. In December a deal worth more than $2 billion with the Facebook-owned Meta group was announced.

Beijing apparently views the transaction as a security risk. Reports suggest that senior managers of the company were at times prevented from leaving China during the review, including co-founder Xiao Hong.