March 25 (Reuters) - China has barred two co-founders of

artificial intelligence startup Manus from leaving the country

as regulators review whether Meta's $2 billion

acquisition of the firm violated investment rules, the Financial

Times reported.

Manus's chief executive Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji

Yichao were summoned to a meeting in Beijing with the National

Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) this month, the FT said

on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Following the meeting, the executives were told they could

not leave China due to a regulatory review, though they are free

to travel within the country, the report said.

Manus is actively seeking legal and consulting assistance to

help resolve the matter, the newspaper said.

"The transaction complied fully with applicable law. We

anticipate an appropriate resolution to the inquiry," a Meta

spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.

China's Ministry of Public Security and Manus did not

immediately respond to requests for comment.

Meta announced in December that it would acquire Manus,

which develops general-purpose AI agents capable of operating as

digital employees, performing tasks such as research and

automation with minimal prompting.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a source

told Reuters at the time that the deal valued Manus at $2

billion-$3 billion.

Earlier this year, China's commerce ministry had said it

would assess and investigate Meta's acquisition of Manus.