CTA keyword: MANUS · Type: checklist For founders, operators and teams who run real work through an AI agent from a young company.
Manus was bought by Meta, the deal was blocked and unwound, and some users were asked to back up their data before it was deleted. Now Manus is independent again with fresh funding. The tool kept working, but the owner, the rules and the data changed in a few months. Run these five checks before your workflows depend on any startup's agent.
Why this matters
- Owners change fast. A startup can be acquired, blocked by a regulator, unwound or shut down inside one year.
- Your data follows the owner. A change of control can move your data, change its terms, or delete part of it to meet a regulator's rules.
- Agents hold more than chats. They keep files, logins, browser sessions and connected accounts. Losing access hurts more than losing a chatbot.
The 5 checks
1. Can you get everything out today?
- Find the export: chats, files the agent created, task history, saved workflows.
- Run one export now and open it. A button that fails on day one fails on the bad day too.
- Pass: a complete export in a standard format (JSON, Markdown, CSV, ZIP of files) in under 10 minutes.
2. Where does your data live, and who can be told to delete it?
- Read the privacy policy and terms for: the company's legal entity, its country, the data region and the change-of-control clause.
- Note what the terms say happens to your data on a merger or sale.
- Pass: you can name the entity, the region and what happens to your data if the company is sold.
3. What does the agent hold the keys to?
- List every connected account: email, drive, calendar, GitHub, Slack, payment tools.
- Use scoped tokens or a separate service account, never your main admin login.
- Write down how to revoke each one in under 5 minutes.
- Pass: a one-page access list with a revoke link for every connection.
4. Could you switch tomorrow?
- Keep your prompts, task instructions and workflow steps in your own docs, not only inside the tool.
- Name one fallback (another agent, or a plain model plus your own scripts) and test one real task on it.
- Pass: your top 3 workflows run on the fallback with less than a day of rework.
5. Will you hear about a change before it hits you?
- Subscribe to the vendor's status page, changelog and email notices with an inbox someone reads.
- Set a calendar check every quarter: ownership news, terms changes, pricing changes.
- Pass: a named owner on your team and a quarterly reminder.
Copy-paste: the vendor-risk scorecard
VENDOR: ____________ TOOL: ____________ DATE: ________
1. Full export tested today ............ YES / NO
2. Entity + data region + sale clause .. YES / NO
3. Access list with revoke links ....... YES / NO
4. Fallback tested on a real task ...... YES / NO
5. Change alerts + quarterly owner ..... YES / NO
Score: __ / 5
5 = build on it. 3-4 = fix the gaps first. 0-2 = keep it for experiments only.
Ask the agent itself
Before I build my team's workflows on you, answer from your own
docs and terms, and link each answer:
1. How do I export all my data, files and task history?
2. Which legal entity holds my data, and in which region?
3. What happens to my data if the company is acquired?
4. How do I revoke every connected account at once?
If you can't find a documented answer, say "not documented".
Then check every answer against the linked page yourself.
What happened with Manus (the short version)
- Dec 2025: Meta agreed to buy Manus, an AI agent startup, in a deal reported at more than $2 billion.
- Apr 2026: Chinese authorities blocked the deal and ordered it unwound.
- Aug 2026: Manus said it would leave Meta and go independent again. Some users were told to back up their data before part of it was deleted for compliance.
- Sep 1, 2026: Manus said it had formally resumed independent operations.
- Oct 8, 2026: Manus's parent raised more than $500 million, led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, with Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund joining.
This checklist is our own guidance, not legal advice. Check your vendor's current terms before you decide.