Chinese start-up Monica has launched Manus, the world’s first “AI Agent” platform — a significant leap beyond traditional large language models (LLMs) or chatbots. Unlike conventional AI tools, Manus functions autonomously, by initiating tasks on its own, capable of planning and executing complex, multi-step tasks across a wide range of domains. It has already demonstrated abilities such as building and deploying websites, analysing stocks, and generating detailed reports with minimal human involvement. This breakthrough has led many to call it the “second DeepSeek moment,” suggesting that China could be rapidly closing the gap in AI and potentially challenging the dominance of major US AI companies. Monica is reportedly preparing for a new funding round that could boost its valuation to $5 billion—a sharp rise from $1 billion at the end of last year. Alongside its fundraising efforts, Manus has also launched its monetization model, offering two subscription tiers: (1) Manus Starter: $39/month and (2) Manus Pro: $199/month. The difference is in the number of tasks that it can run simultaneously.
The secret recipe behind Manus’ success is that the company leverages a multi-model architecture that blends the capabilities of several leading language models. In practice, this means Manus builds its agents on top of third-party foundation models, such as Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 and fine-tuned versions of Alibaba’s open-source Qwen. However, this approach introduces two key challenges: (1) High Operational Costs: Manus reportedly pays $2 to Anthropic per completed task, which could significantly increase operational expenses as user activity scales. This cost burden is likely one reason Manus has adopted an invite-only system, resulting in just 186,000 registered users—about 1% of its total waitlist. (2) Limited Moat: Relying heavily on third-party and open-source technologies may reduce Manus’s defensibility, as competitors could potentially replicate its product by combining similar tools and models. A recent MIT Technology Review also pointed out technical limitations. The platform occasionally displays error messages indicating infrastructure bottlenecks. Additionally, the AI sometimes misinterprets user prompts, makes incorrect assumptions, or cuts corners to speed up task execution. Those issues may be addressed with its funding round.
Swiss Re, one of the world’s top reinsurers, released a report revealing that Waymo's autonomous vehicles are safer than human drivers, including those using the latest ADAS-equipped cars (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems). The conclusion is backed by Swiss Re’s extensive real-world claims data — spanning over 500,000 claims and more than 200 billion miles of driving exposure.
The study used liability claims data as a proxy for at-fault collisions, analyzing claims from the 25.3 million fully autonomous miles driven by Waymo and comparing them to those from human drivers. The results were striking: Waymo was involved in only nine property damage claims and two bodily injury claims — representing reductions of 88% and 92% respectively, compared to human drivers. For the same mileage driven by humans instead, the expected outcome would have been 78 property damage and 26 bodily injury claims.
Will an ADAS-equipped vehicle make a big difference? Not really. Swiss Re also compared Waymo’s performance to vehicles equipped with ADAS, and the results still heavily favored Waymo. Its property damage claims were 86% lower, and bodily injury claims were 90% lower than those of ADAS-equipped vehicles.
This research adds strong support to Waymo’s expansion strategy for 2025–26. The company has already established a solid presence in Phoenix (Arizona), San Francisco, and Los Angeles (California). In 2025, it plans to expand services to Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia. Testing will also begin in Miami, Florida, laying the groundwork for a full public ride-hailing launch in 2026.
Waymo is also targeting Washington, D.C. for future expansion, pending regulatory approval. On the international front, the company is preparing to begin testing in Tokyo, marking its first venture outside the U.S. To fuel this continued growth, Waymo raised $5.6 billion in its Series C funding round in October last year, bringing its total valuation to $45 billion.
In a game-changing move, BYD one of Tesla’s main EV competitors announced in mid-February the launch of its proprietary ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) called “God’s Eye”, across all its models. Unlike Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system , which costs users $99 per month (or a one-off upfront fee of $8,000), BYD is offering God’s Eye completely free of charge. While God’s Eye’s autonomous level is still not very high, this decision still significantly lowers the barrier for consumers to experience advanced driver assistance, even on entry-level models priced as low as CNY 69.8K ($9.5K).
BYD developed God’s Eye in collaboration with Horizon (software) and Hesai (LiDAR), while also integrating DeepSeek technology to enhance its capabilities. The system supports key ADAS features such as automatic highway ramp entry and exit, cruise driving, lane keeping, autonomous lane changes, and obstacle avoidance. Based on these functionalities, ‘God’s Eye’ is estimated to fall between ADAS Level 2 and Level 3.
Additionally, the system includes autonomous emergency braking, self-parking upon exit, and remote parking. It is offered in three tiers, with Level C being the entry-level version available on BYD’s most affordable models. Despite being the base version, Level C still comes equipped with 12 cameras, 5 millimeter-wave radars, and 12 ultrasonic radars, a significant hardware package for a budget-friendly car.
Over the past year, BYD has aggressively slashed prices to strengthen its dominance in the Chinese market. Now, by offering free ADAS, the company is escalating the price war indirectly. Meanwhile, Tesla’s FSD is still awaiting regulatory approval in China, which could intensify competition for Tesla in 2025 as BYD continues to gain market share.