Manus
Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd.
Short answer
Short answer: treat Manus with caution — autonomous agents get broad access to act on your behalf, and its jurisdiction and data practices aren't clearly established. Don't grant it access to sensitive systems or data without a controlled evaluation.
At a glance
- Vendor / legal entity
- Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd.
- Headquarters
- 🇸🇬 Singapore, SG
- Category
- Agent
- Ownership / jurisdiction
- Operated by Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd. (Singapore). China-founded (Beijing/Wuhan) with a China-registered entity remaining; HQ relocated to Singapore in mid-2025.
- Trains on your data?
- Assessment in progress
- Data hosting & residency
- Not verified from primary sources. Relies on third-party foundation models (e.g. Anthropic, OpenAI) per reporting.
- Enterprise tier
- Enterprise terms, DPA and certifications could not be verified from primary sources.
- Certifications
- No certifications assessed yet
Why this rating
Manus is an autonomous agent that plans and executes multi-step tasks — browsing, coding, file and tool operations — with broad access on your behalf, which is inherently higher-risk than a chat tool. It also carries jurisdictional ambiguity: China-founded (Beijing/Wuhan), it relocated its HQ to Singapore (Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd.) in mid-2025 while a Beijing entity remains China-registered. Its data-handling practices could not be verified from primary sources. High: broad autonomous access plus jurisdiction ambiguity and unverified data practices.
What it is
Manus is an autonomous AI agent that independently plans and executes complex multi-step tasks — browsing, coding, file and tool operations — with minimal human input. Two things drive its risk: the breadth of autonomous access an agent needs to act on your behalf, and jurisdictional ambiguity (China-founded, relocated to Singapore in 2025 with a Beijing entity still registered). Its specific data-handling practices could not be verified from primary sources.
Known incidents & regulatory actions
An autonomous agent with broad tool/browser/code access combined with jurisdictional ambiguity: a China-founded firm relocated its HQ to Singapore in 2025 while a Beijing entity remains registered.
2025 · Sources
Frequently asked questions
Where is Manus based?
It's operated by Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. The company was founded in China and relocated its HQ to Singapore in mid-2025, though a Beijing entity remains registered.
Why are autonomous agents higher-risk?
To act on your behalf they need broad access — browsing, running code, using tools and files — so a misstep or a data leak has more reach than a single chat prompt. Evaluate them in a controlled environment first.
Sources
Every fact and the risk rating on this page trace to a primary source — the vendor's own trust center, privacy policy, DPA, or a regulator. Verify current terms before relying on them.
Govern this tool
Qadar AI Shield turns these risk facts into enforcement — discover who uses the tool, redact personal data before it reaches it, and allow-list or block it per team.
Risk levels are Qadar AI's curated assessment from cited primary sources — a curated assessment, not a certification, and not legal advice. Verify a tool's current terms before relying on them.