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China Curbs US Investment In Tech Companies After Meta Acquisition Of Manus

Zero Rss
3 months 2 weeks ago
China Curbs US Investment In Tech Companies After Meta Acquisition Of Manus

Following earlier news that China has blacklisted 7 EU defense and aerospace firms over their dealings with Taiwan, Bloomberg reports that China plans to restrict top technology firms, including leading AI startups, from accepting US capital without government approval. 

Chinese regulators, including the National Development and Reform Commission, have recently instructed several private technology firms to reject U.S. investment in funding rounds unless explicitly approved, ​the report said. The commission - a powerful state planning agency with broad policy-making powers - is now heading a multi-agency probe that includes the Ministry of Commerce into the deal and its repercussions, the people said.

AI startups Moonshot AI and StepFun were among the ​companies that received the guidance, the report said, adding ⁠that TikTok owner ByteDance has also been told it should not allow ​secondary share sales to US investors without clearance. The measures are aimed at ​preventing US investors from gaining stakes in sensitive technologies linked to China's national security.

The ‌heightened ⁠scrutiny follows Meta's more than $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus in 2025, which triggered investigations into foreign investments in Chinese companies and technology exports amid concerns the transaction could spur other startups to move advanced technology ​offshore.

At the heart of the post-Manus debate was the way the startup restructured to make a sale to a foreign company possible before any regulatory review in Beijing.  Manus was a Singaporean-incorporated firm, but its founders hailed from China. Launched in March 2025, Manus is a general AI agent capable of automating complex tasks, ranging from S&P 500 analysis to drafting sales pitches. A month later, its parent Butterfly Effect raised $75 million in a round led by Silicon Valley’s Benchmark, valuing it at $500 million. The investment triggered a probe by the US Treasury over potential violations of restrictions on investments in sensitive technologies.

In July, Manus relocated its China-based staff to Singapore, cutting dozens of roles in the process. Meta announced its acquisition in December after Manus surpassed $100 million in annualized revenue.

It remains unclear what other action Beijing will take following its investigation. Manus co-founders Xiao Hong and Ji Yichao had been barred from leaving China, the Financial Times reported in March.

For years, U.S. ​capital has played ⁠a significant role in China's technology sector, ranging from venture investments by firms such as Sequoia Capital ​and Benchmark to deep operating ties involving companies such ​as Apple, ⁠Microsoft and Tesla.

American pension funds and endowments have also been major backers of China-focused venture funds, helping fuel growth across internet platforms, electric vehicles ⁠and AI. Washington ​also imposed its own restrictions earlier this ​year, limiting U.S. investment in certain Chinese AI, semiconductor and quantum firms, citing security concerns.

China's new restrictions risk further isolating China’s recovering tech sector from the venture backing that has underpinned it for two decades, much of which was sourced from American pensions and endowments. It follows Beijing’s decision to restrict “red chips” - Chinese companies incorporated overseas - from seeking initial public offerings in Hong Kong, threatening to upend a decades-old playbook that helped Chinese companies tap foreign capital by floating overseas.

The twin moves suggest that regulators are worried about a leakage of homegrown technology abroad as Chinese-founded startups and companies explore international opportunities. In the wake of the Manus acquisition, many academics decried the loss of a valuable asset to the US. Many worried that the deal would encourage other startups to follow suit.

To be sure, Washington has restricted investments into certain Chinese technology sectors, for fear of helping advance its military or economic might. In 2025, US rules designed to curb investment in Chinese-owned semiconductor, quantum and AI companies took effect.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 11:35
Tyler Durden

White House Expects 'Swift' Warsh Confirmation After DOJ Drops Powell Criminal Probe

Zero Rss
3 months 2 weeks ago
White House Expects 'Swift' Warsh Confirmation After DOJ Drops Powell Criminal Probe

Update (1050ET): The White House is now expecting 'swift' confirmation of Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh after the DOJ dropped its criminal probe into current Chair Jerome Powell over the Fed's building construction project. 

On Tuesday, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) made clear that he would block Warsh's nomination unless the Powell inquiry was dropped. 

Thom Tillis still refuses to blame Trump for anything: "The problem I have is that some US attorney or assistant US attorney with a dream thought it would be cute to bring Chair Powell under an investigation ... the boss said he didn't know anything about it" pic.twitter.com/WhBawG82bZ

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 21, 2026

To that end...

//--> //--> Trump drops Powell investigation before Warsh is confirmed?
Yes 99% · No 1%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

* * *

The Department of Justice is dropping its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, ending a standoff that threatened to delay the confirmation of Powell's successor at the central bank

In a post on X, US Attorney General for DC Jeanine Pirro said she is directing her office to close its investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as the inspector general for the agency has been asked to scrutinize its building construction project costs,

This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns – in the billions of dollars – that have been borne by taxpayers.

The IG has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable to American taxpayers. I…

— US Attorney Pirro (@USAttyPirro) April 24, 2026

Pirro initiated a legal battle to serve subpoenas to the central bank as part of a criminal investigation into the cost overruns and congressional testimony Chair Jerome Powell provided on the matter. In March, "Nevertrump" Judge James Boasberg quashed two grand jury subpoenas that Pirro’s office served in January.

The ongoing legal battle has pitted the independence of the Fed against the Justice Department’s power to carry out investigations.

The investigation had thrown the Fed’s expected leadership transition into chaos. Powell’s term as chair is scheduled to expire on May 15, and President Donald Trump has nominated former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh to replace him.

Warsh, who appeared before the Senate Banking Committee this week, enjoys broad support among GOP lawmakers, but a key Republican senator, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, vowed to block his confirmation unless the DOJ investigation was dropped.

According to ABC, senior DOJ officials had contacted senators in recent days, including Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, informing them of the plan to drop the probe and refer the matter regarding alleged cost overruns at the Fed's Washington headquarters to the bank's internal watchdog, the sources said. 

The Fed's independent inspector general conducted an audit of the building renovation costs in 2021 and Powell had already asked the watchdog to take a fresh look at the $2.5 billion project last year.

Powell's term ends next month, but he said in March that he would stay in the position until President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Fed, Kevin Warsh, is confirmed. Which is also the reason why the DOJ decided to drop its case as the last thing Trump needed was more confusion over when Warsh would take over.

A spokesperson for the Federal Reserve declined to comment. Reached by ABC News, a spokesperson for Tillis declined to comment.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 11:05
Tyler Durden

Fewer Universities Require DEI Pledges From Faculty Candidates: Report

Zero Rss
3 months 2 weeks ago
Fewer Universities Require DEI Pledges From Faculty Candidates: Report

Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Requests related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for faculty job candidates in higher education have decreased dramatically - at least on paper - since President Donald Trump began his second term, a new report from Heterodox Academy says.

University of Michigan students pass signage on campus displaying the university's Core Values in Ann Arbor, Mich., on April 3, 2025. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

This includes the removal of required pledges in cover letters or standalone essays regarding a commitment to DEI. Eleven percent of college and university faculty job listings specified such requirements between August and December of 2025, a decline from 25 percent the previous year, the April 21 report said.

Heterodox Academy, a nonprofit that advocates viewpoint diversity in higher education, analyzed advertisements for more than 20,000 faculty positions posted on HigherEdJobs.com between August and December in the last two years. The website compiles job openings from colleges and universities in every state.

All told, 37 percent of faculty job ads during the fall 2025 semester did not specifically address DEI regarding application materials, but still “signaled that a commitment to DEI will be valued,” the report said.

Additionally, Heterodox Academy researchers found that DEI statements are more likely to be required at schools in the northeast or near the West Coast. The mandate is also more likely at private institutions than public ones, though it has decreased at both since 2024, and is more common found in the humanities disciplines than in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) majors, the report said.

Only 13 percent of the faculty job ads reviewed mentioned viewpoint diversity, the report said, “suggesting that universities continue to emphasize demographic diversity rather than other potential dimensions of diversity such as intellectual heterogeneity.”

Heterodox Academy largely attributes the dramatic decline of DEI requirements for faculty candidates to Trump’s policies.

Early last year, the president issued an executive order prohibiting the use of DEI in student admissions and college and university hiring, in accordance with existing Civil Rights laws prohibiting discrimination based on race. The administration initiated investigations into the wealthiest higher education institutions and cautioned that violators could lose federal funding.

In the weeks that followed, the Department of Education sanctioned several schools accused of discriminatory practices in employment, student admissions, and maintaining DEI programs like mandatory training and affinity groups. Several of them paid tens of millions of dollars in penalties and agreed to conditions set by the federal government, while Harvard University pushed back and has litigation ongoing against the Trump administration.

Trump also asked university administrations to certify that they are not violating anti-discrimination laws, and some schools were offered a compact that promised preferred consideration for federal funding if they committed to ending any remaining DEI initiatives, required SAT scores from student applicants, limited undergraduate admission of foreign nationals to 15 percent, and pledged a policy of institutional neutrality.

Seventeen states, meanwhile, passed laws banning the use of diversity statements in hiring, the report said.

Colleges and universities across the country have scrubbed any mention of DEI from their websites, substituting terms like “office of belonging” or “campus culture.”

Peter Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars and a former professor and administrator at Boston University, said he’s skeptical that higher education is ending its deep-rooted commitment to DEI.

He applauded Heterodox Academy for its research, calling this public acknowledgement a step in the right direction, and said the methodology is sound. Still, “counting mentions of DEI in job advertisements is a long way from what universities are actually doing.”

Removing the three letters or words from job ads, much like renaming DEI functions to something like the office of belonging, doesn’t make a dent in a decades-long, entrenched culture in so many university programs where racial preferences in hiring are still considered essential, and administrators and faculty committees presume that most of the applicants share their liberal, progressive ideology, Wood told The Epoch Times.

“There’s certainly a wink and a nudge that if you want a job here, you better make nice on this front,” he said. “I don’t think they’ve changed these jobs one iota. Senior administrators need to be really convinced that it [DEI] was a mistake and it’s time to move beyond it.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 11:05
Tyler Durden

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