Case Study: "Manus" The First Autonomous AI Agent
- Aman Zaid
- Mar 30
- 5 min read
What is an AI agent?
Some may think that the AI revolution began in recent years, but the story goes deeper than that. According to the Britannica Encyclopedia , AI began with the early work of logician and computer pioneer Alan Turing in the 1930s, using an abstract computing machine with unlimited memory and a scanner. This is now known as a Turing machine, which is found in many modern computers.
Since then, technological discoveries and developments have continued, leading to robots being able to perform many intelligent tasks that previously required time and effort. In this context, the names of AI platforms have varied and competed among themselves, but AI agents gained notable popularity with the emergence of Manus, the first autonomous artificial agent. The edX platform defines AI agents as programs that collect data, interact with their environment, and perform tasks to solve specific problems. AI agents can also process natural language, make autonomous decisions, and achieve pre-defined goals.
What is Manus AI?
After the emergence of DeepSeek, the first Chinese AI tool to compete with the most popular American AI tool, ChatGPT, productivity in developing innovative tools that shorten the lives of humans never ceased. This was followed by a new AI tool called Manus, developed by Monica, also known as Butterfly Effect, a Chinese startup. According to Al-Ghad newspaper, the company shared a demo video on the X platform on Wednesday night, and by Thursday afternoon, it had garnered more than 200,000 views.
According to Reuters, the Beijing municipal government announced on Thursday that the Chinese version of Manus's previous product, an AI assistant named Monica, had completed the registration required for generative AI applications in China, clearing a significant regulatory hurdle. Chinese regulators require all generative AI applications released in the country to adhere to strict regulations, partly aimed at ensuring that these products do not produce content that Beijing deems sensitive or harmful.
According to IBM, seven days after Manos's launch on March 5, 2025, it has garnered global attention and headlines. The developer also claimed that two million people are on a waiting list for its versatile software. This is because Manos is still available only by invitation, with invite tokens available for purchase on resale markets and social media platforms for thousands of dollars. According to China Daily, Manos has announced a strategic partnership with the team behind tech giant Alibaba's Qwen AI models. Since its launch, so-called Manos invite tokens have been resold for nearly 100,000 yuan ($13,797 USD) on the second-hand goods trading platform Xianyu.
How to Use Manus in Business? Comparing Manus with ChatGPT
Manus, unlike other chat-based AI tools, operates autonomously as a multi-agent system (MAS) running in a virtual cloud environment, allowing it to break down complex tasks into smaller steps, delegate subtasks to specialized components, and then seamlessly integrate the results. It acts as an executive, assigning tasks to the team and continuously monitoring the results. You can shut down your computer and it will continue working. It is arguably the best AI tool for 2025.
According to Asharq Al-Awsat, Manus has multiple uses:
Full Autonomy: Manus can execute tasks from start to finish, such as analyzing resumes or financial statements, proposing investment strategies, and managing real estate searches.
Multi-Agent Architecture: Manus works as an executive, assigning tasks to a team of AIs to solve problems that require sequential thinking and continuous decision-making.
Adaptability to diverse fields: Manus's most prominent feature is its ability to self-learn, enabling it to perform multiple tasks, such as market analysis, improving hospital management, software development, detecting security vulnerabilities, and optimizing systems.
Integration with multiple tools and systems: Manus is an AI tool that suits the automation needs of businesses and organizations, as it can connect to cloud services, databases, and more.
Challenges of Manus AI
Despite the advantages of AI, which contribute to increasing corporate productivity and providing creative solutions to problems, human concerns about the consequences of this artificial development are contributing to greater scrutiny of its future drawbacks, which are not limited to reduced job opportunities but also to ethical responsibility and reduced human oversight.
According to Forbes magazine, citing a study, the more autonomous AI becomes, the more dangerous it becomes for humans and society. The study also emphasizes that developers should not create fully autonomous AI agents, as they will be capable of causing harm in many ways, such as security vulnerabilities, reduced human oversight, and increased susceptibility to manipulation.
In an email response, Chris Duffy, a cybersecurity expert at the UK Ministry of Defense and CEO of Ignite AI Solutions, shared these concerns, saying: "Manus AI is the most worrying AI development I've seen so far. Just because it can do something doesn't mean it should be done." Duffy's greatest concerns are the potential for manipulation and its lack of ethical responsibility. Referring to a study conducted by Anthropic and Redwood Research in December 2024, which revealed that some AI models intentionally deceived their creators to prevent modification.
Manus AI Availability in the Middle East
A PwC report indicates that AI will transform the global economy. It is estimated that AI will contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, more than the current GDP of China and India combined. Of this amount, $6.6 trillion is expected to come from increased productivity, and $9.1 trillion from benefits to consumers.
In the Arab world, given the widespread use of AI tools in the Middle East, companies and organizations are increasingly interested in automating their businesses in ways that contribute to long-term economic growth. PwC estimates that the Middle East is expected to generate 2% of the total global benefits of AI by 2030, equivalent to $320 billion.
Saudi Arabia is also expected to see the greatest gains, with AI expected to contribute more than $135.2 billion to the economy by 2030, equivalent to 12.4% of GDP. In relative terms, the UAE is expected to see the largest impact, accounting for nearly 14% of GDP in 2030.
What is the future of AI agents?
Many opinions differ regarding the future of AI agents. Some see them as contributing to improving corporate productivity and reducing operational costs. According to IBM, Gartner recently published a report titled "Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2025," which stated how autonomous AI agents (i.e., agent AI) "will dramatically enhance the skills of workers and teams, enabling them to manage complex processes, projects, and initiatives through natural language." TechNode also notes that the AI sector in China is witnessing intense competition in the development of AI agents, as companies seek to go beyond the functions of traditional chatbots. Globally, OpenAI's announcement of a $20,000 monthly subscription for an AI agent specifically designed for enterprises indicates growing commercial interest in autonomous AI. However, this does not diminish the human need to integrate AI tools and agents by distributing tasks between automation and human performance to increase productivity in a creative and humane way.
