Manus AI Adopts Anthropic Agent Skills Standard Amid Meta Acquisition Scrutiny
Tony Kim Jan 27, 2026 16:16
Manus AI integrates Anthropic's Agent Skills framework for modular AI capabilities as Chinese regulators deepen probe into Meta's $2B acquisition deal.
Manus AI has announced full integration of Anthropic's Agent Skills open standard, a move that positions the Singapore-based AI agent platform to expand its enterprise capabilities even as Chinese regulators intensify scrutiny of Meta's $2 billion acquisition bid.
The timing raises eyebrows. Just two days before this announcement, reports emerged that China had deepened its investigation into Meta's landmark buyout, examining potential violations of tech export regulations, national security concerns, and cross-border currency flows.
What Agent Skills Actually Does
Agent Skills packages domain expertise into reusable, file-based modules that AI agents can load on demand. Think of it as turning one-off successful AI interactions into repeatable playbooks.
The framework operates on three levels. Metadata loads at startup with minimal token cost—roughly 100 tokens per skill. Core instructions load when triggered, consuming under 5,000 tokens. Resource files like scripts and templates load only when specifically referenced.
For enterprise users, this means a financial analyst could package a successful market research workflow into a skill, then share it across their team. New hires access the same AI-powered processes without rebuilding from scratch.
Technical Integration Details
Manus runs in isolated sandbox environments with full Ubuntu file system access—exactly what Agent Skills requires. The platform can parse SKILL.md files and execute Python or Bash scripts contained within skills.
The company is also exposing previously internal data sources—SimilarWeb, Yahoo Finance, LinkedIn Search—as discoverable skills. Users can browse these tools, understand their parameters, and call them reliably rather than stumbling upon undocumented APIs.
New slash commands let users explicitly trigger specific skills by typing /SKILL_NAME in chat. A "Build a Skill with Manus" feature automatically packages successful interaction flows into reusable modules.
Strategic Positioning
The open standards play makes sense regardless of acquisition outcome. If the Meta deal closes, Manus brings interoperability with Anthropic's ecosystem. If Chinese regulators block it, Manus demonstrates independence from any single tech giant.
Manus launched in March 2025 and quickly gained attention for autonomous task execution without continuous human oversight. Meta announced acquisition plans in December 2025, but regulatory hurdles have stalled the deal.
The company's roadmap includes project-level skill integration and team skill libraries for enterprise subscribers. Whether that roadmap survives under Meta ownership—or if Meta ownership survives Chinese regulatory review—remains the bigger question for users evaluating long-term platform commitments.
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