Manus was once one of the most talked about AI startups in China, celebrated for building general purpose AI agents that could act like digital employees and handle tasks such as research, automation, travel planning, stock analysis, and even job candidate screening with minimal prompting. Its rapid rise made it a symbol of China’s growing AI ambitions, but the company’s latest chapter shows just how politically charged the global AI race has become. What began as a startup s

Baidu’s latest push into artificial intelligence hardware marks a significant step in China’s drive toward technological self-sufficiency as geopolitical tensions continue to reshape the global chip landscape. At its annual developer conference, the company unveiled two new AI processors, the M100 and M300, positioned as powerful, low-cost, domestically controlled alternatives for Chinese enterprises seeking to reduce reliance on U.S. technology. The M100, designed primarily