Autonomous Workflow

Manus AI, developed by Chinese startup Butterfly Effect (backed by Tencent), challenges traditional chatbots through multi-model orchestration (Antrhopic’s Claude, Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen), enabling autonomous execution of workflows like financial analysis and website building. Its transparent interface allows real-time task monitoring via concurrent virtual machines. While facing latency and stability bottlenecks, the $2/task platform contrasts with Western single-model dominance by leveraging optimized foundation models like Alibaba’s QwQ-32B, which delivers high reasoning performance despite smaller parameters. This reflects China’s strategic shift from imitation to integrated AI ecosystems, supported by national investments exceeding $52.4 billion. The Manus case highlights diverging global AI paths, where localized regulatory environments and market demands shape competitive, complementary innovation models.