NDRC

3 briefs

power 2026-05-07

China Retroactively Killed a $2 Billion AI Deal. The Founders Can't Leave.

Beijing blocked Meta's acquisition of AI startup Manus ten weeks after it was announced, ordered the parties to unwind it, and restricted the Chinese co-founders' ability to travel. The move draws a permanent line: Chinese-origin AI does not get sold to Americans.

power 2026-04-27

China Vetoes Manus: What Happens When the Startup You Bought Can't Leave

Beijing blocked Meta's $2B acquisition of the agentic AI startup Manus. The founders are under exit bans. The employees are in Meta's Singapore offices. No one knows who owns what.

power 2026-04-27

China Used the Trade Truce to Build a Better Weapon

While Trump called the October summit a '12 out of 10,' Beijing enacted laws to punish supply chain offshoring, tightened rare earth licensing, and banned foreign AI chips from state data centers. The truce is real. The preparation for what comes after it is also real.