മെറ്റാ buys manus AI

Meta, SoftBank, and Baidu ended the year with moves that can change the AI world.
Meta bought an AI agent that can actually do work, not just chat.
SoftBank poured tens of billions into OpenAI, betting big on super-power AI.
And Baidu quietly showed ERNIE 5.0

a Chinese AI model that matches or beats top US models.

One thing is clear:
AI is no longer about talking smart.
It’s about agents that act and money that decides who wins.
I’m Alex. Welcome to L8R by Innov8.

Let’s DIVE DEEP 🧠👇

In today’s post:

• Meta Buys Manus (Agentic AI Is Here)

• SoftBank Invests $41B in OpenAI

• ERNIE 5.0: China’s Silent AI Bomb

🧠 Meta Buys Manus (Agentic AI Is Here)

Meta bought an AI startup called Manus. This AI doesn’t just chat — it plans, clicks, writes code, and finishes tasks by itself.

🔍 Bullet Points:

• Meta bought Manus for ~$2–3 billion

• Manus is an AI agent, not a chatbot

• It can do research, coding, analysis, and reports

• Meta will plug this into WhatsApp, Instagram, and Meta AI

🚨 Why It Matters:

• Chatbots talk, agents act

• This is AI that works like a digital employee

• Shows Meta cares more about AI systems, not just models

• Big threat to Google, OpenAI, Microsoft

⏭️ What’s Next?

• Manus inside WhatsApp for businesses?

• AI that runs ads, replies to customers, makes reports

• Agent wars are just starting

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💰 SoftBank Invests $41B in OpenAI

SoftBank just gave OpenAI one of the biggest investments in tech history. This money is for super-power AI and massive data centers.

🔍 Bullet Points:

• SoftBank invested $41 billion

• They now own ~11% of OpenAI

• OpenAI valued around $300–500 billion

• Money will be used for chips, data centers, and AGI

🚨 Why It Matters:

• AI is now a money + power game

• Only rich players can train top models

• OpenAI removed profit limits to raise money

• This could change OpenAI’s original “for humanity” image

⏭️ What’s Next?

• Giant AI data centers (called Stargate)

• Faster race toward AGI

• More pressure on OpenAI to make money fast

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🤖 ERNIE 5.0: China’s Silent AI Bomb

Baidu released ERNIE 5.0 — a new AI that understands text, images, audio, video together. On some tests, it beats GPT and Gemini.

🔍 Bullet Points:

• Built by Baidu

• Model name: ERNIE 5.0

• Top scores in reading documents and charts

• Very good at SVG, UI, and frontend generation

• Cheaper than GPT and Claude

🚨 Why It Matters:

• China is catching up — fast

• ERNIE is trained on all media together (big advantage)

• AI design + code generation is improving quickly

• Western models may lose technical lead

⏭️ What’s Next?

• More global testing of ERNIE

• Bug fixes (SVG tool issue being fixed)

• China vs US AI competition will heat up

🚨 Quick L8R Summary

• Meta buys a "Digital Employee": Meta acquired Manus (an agentic AI startup) for ~$3 Billion, meaning WhatsApp might soon have AI that plans and finishes tasks for you, not just chats.

• OpenAI gets $41 Billion: SoftBank just made one of the biggest bets in history, investing $41B into OpenAI to build massive super-computers and race toward AGI.

• China's Silent Win: Baidu quietly dropped ERNIE 5.0, a powerful new model that understands text, images, and video all at once—and it’s already beating GPT in some key tests.