• Source:JND
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AI startup Manus, which began in China and has since relocated operations to Singapore, Tokyo, and San Mateo, has launched what it’s calling its most ambitious feature to date: Wide Research. Announced in a blog post on July 31, the tool is designed to help users tackle complex, high-volume research tasks with the help of multiple AI agents working in tandem.

The feature targets users who need to sift through data on hundreds of items at once—whether that’s analysing sneaker collections, comparing MBA programs, or evaluating Fortune 500 companies. According to the company, Wide Research allows for parallel processing and enables agents to collaborate efficiently to complete large tasks faster.

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“With the launch of Wide Research, Manus unlocks a powerful new way for users to tackle complex, large-scale tasks that require information on hundreds of items,” the company wrote. “Wide Research marks a milestone in our exploration of the scaling laws of AI agents, but it’s just the beginning. The infrastructure behind it is part of something much bigger we’re building.”

This marks the first major update since Manus debuted in March. The new system sets the startup up as a direct competitor to U.S. players like OpenAI and Google, whose tools—Deep Research and Deep Think, respectively—also focus on AI-driven analysis. It also follows the recent launch of ChatGPT Agent.

Currently, Wide Research is available to Manus’ Pro users, with plans to extend access to users on Plus and Basic tiers at a later stage.

Unlike traditional AI assistants built for specific tasks like code generation or task management, Manus’ approach with Wide Research is rooted in flexibility. The company described it as “a system-level mechanism for parallel processing and a protocol for agent-to-agent collaboration.” Unlike specialised agent managers, the AI agents in Wide Research are general-purpose, meaning they can be adapted to almost any task.

“This generality unlocks flexibility: tasks are not constrained to rigid formats or predefined domains. In practice, the only real limit is your imagination,” Manus stated.

A demo video posted by co-founder Peak Ji shows the tool in action—quickly researching 100 sneakers or generating 50 poster designs, all within minutes. Ji did acknowledge, however, that Wide Research remains experimental and may have some limitations in its current phase.

Wide Research runs on Manus’ underlying virtualisation infrastructure and agent system, which the company says took “months of optimisation” to build. That same system powers other features Manus has rolled out this year, including a general-purpose AI agent capable of creating travel itineraries and a browser-based AI video generator released in June.

“Behind every Manus session runs a dedicated cloud-based virtual machine, allowing users to orchestrate complex cloud workloads—simply by talking to an agent,” the company explained. “From generating tailored rental presentations to safely evaluating cutting-edge open-source projects in a secure sandbox, the Turing-completeness of the virtual machine is what gives Manus its generality—and opens the door to endless creative possibilities.”

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While the startup no longer operates in China, it still counts several Chinese investors among its early backers, including Tencent, ZhenFund, and HSG (formerly Sequoia China). In a recent funding round, Manus raised $75 million led by U.S. venture capital firm Benchmark.