On Thursday, China announced it would probe Meta’s multi-billion dollar acquisition of Manus, an AI-focused startup, to determine if it aligns with the country’s export control regulations.

Last month, Meta acquired Manus, a company based in Singapore, to enhance its consumer and business products with cutting-edge AI technology.

While the specific terms of the acquisition remain private, insiders informed the Wall Street Journal that the deal exceeded $2 billion.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has declared it will evaluate the acquisition to ensure compliance with laws related to export controls, technology import and export, and international investments, as stated in a translated announcement.

“The Chinese government consistently supports enterprises in conducting mutually beneficial transnational operations and international technological cooperation in accordance with laws and regulations,” Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong said at a press briefing.

Manus began as a product of Chinese start-up Butterfly Effect, also known as Monica.Im, before growing into a separate entity, which relocated to Singapore earlier this year.

The startup was hailed as the next DeepSeek after it launched its first AI agent in March, which can help with tasks such as market research, coding and data analysis.

The company reportedly laid off most of its staff in Beijing in July as it eyed global expansion. Manus said the Meta acquisition would see the company continue to operate from Singapore. The startup said it had 105 employees across the South Asian nation, Tokyo, and San Francisco in December.

Manus said it had passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in December, eight months on from launching a product, which it claimed made it the fastest startup in the world to hit the milestone from $0.

“Manus’s exceptional talent will join Meta’s team to deliver general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including in Meta AI,” Meta said in a statement in December.

The acquisition follows the company raising $75 million in a round led by U.S. VC Benchmark in April.

China’s probe “underlines that [the country] considers advanced AI agents, models and related IP to be strategic assets,” Nick Patience, AI lead at The Futurum Group, told CNBC.

“The most likely outcome I see is a lengthier approval process and potential conditions around how Manus technology developed in China can be used, rather than an outright block, but the threat of stricter action gives Beijing bargaining power in a high profile, US led acquisition,” he added.

CNBC has contacted Meta and Manus for comment.