First TRULY General Agent "MANUS" Blows Up the Internet - The Most HYPED AI Ever!

Key Concepts:

1. Introduction to Manis

Manis is presented as a new autonomous AI agent developed by the Chinese startup Monica (monica.im).
It's described as the "world's first truly General AI agent," capable of planning, executing, and delivering final results, unlike typical chatbots.
The name "Manis" (Latin for "mind and hand") signifies the integration of knowledge and practical application.

2. Rise to Fame and Invitation Code Frenzy

The early preview launch on March 6, 2025, created high demand, leading to invitation codes being resold for exorbitant prices (ranging from $137 to $144,000).
This demand stemmed from the advanced capabilities Manis demonstrated.

3. Multi-Agent Structure and Capabilities

Manis employs a multi-agent structure, where different sub-agents handle distinct parts of a task (planning, execution, verification).
This structure allows Manis to perform complex tasks, such as:
- Screening resumes for job positions.
- Analyzing real estate listings based on user preferences.
- Analyzing stock data and building dashboards.
- Summarizing financial statements.
Example: A user seeking a house in New York with specific criteria (safe community, good schools, budget) received a polished report with recommended properties after Manis searched online, looked up property prices, and did budget calculations.
Other use cases include planning trips, analyzing Tesla stock, creating course materials, and compiling lists of B2B companies.
Manis can generate code, visual dashboards, and present data in tables or Excel documents.

4. Performance on the Gaia Benchmark

Manis achieved new state-of-the-art performance on the Gaia Benchmark, which measures how well a general AI assistant can solve real-world tasks.
It surpassed other systems, including OpenAI's deep research, on all three levels of Gaia's difficulty ratings.
The specifics of the Gaia tests are not widely detailed.
Claim: "We surpass OpenAI's best models at the same level."

5. Company Background and Investment

Monica was founded by Xiao Hong, a serial entrepreneur and graduate of Waj Jong University of Science and Technology.
G Chow is mentioned as a co-founder and chief scientist.
Zanga is another partner.
1.10 cents Venture Capital arm and Zen Fund invested in Monica in July 2022.

6. Comparisons and Market Potential

Manis is being compared to DeepSeek and is considered by some as a "Sputnik moment" or "GPT moment" for China.
It aims for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in the digital space, handling multi-step processes.
Gartner predicts that AI agent adoption will rise from 21% of enterprises in January 2024 to over 80% by 2026, indicating a significant market opportunity.
Potential applications include B2B sourcing, analyzing Amazon store data, and preparing store sales improvement strategies.
Examples:
- Helping a barbecue restaurant in Texas boost sales using local data.
- Participating in Kaggle competitions and ranking in the top 10%.

7. Access and Criticism

Access to Manis is currently Invitation Only, leading to a shortage of invites and resale at high prices.
The developers are working on scaling up servers for more Open Access and hope to offer a free version in the future.
Critics question whether Manis is truly autonomous or simply combining existing technologies.
Monica is known for its successful browser plug-in for ChatGPT, which gained 10 million users quickly.

8. Key Features and Competition

Manis can unzip files, sift through resumes, run Python scripts, and compile real estate data.
It features autonomous learning, retaining user preferences for future tasks.
Companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google are also developing agent-like systems, but Manis is presented as having a more thorough demo.

9. Conclusion

The video concludes by questioning whether Manis is a well-packaged aggregator of AI tools or a genuine step towards General AI.
The success of Manis will depend on its ability to scale and deliver on its promises.