EVENTS

Technological breakthroughs in China have generally marked a new stage in the US-China competition. This is yet again in evidence in the context of the era-defining Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. Beijing’s domestic regulatory controls on technology development have been partly shaped by, and in response to, the US’ attempts to curtail China’s AI growth. While Beijing often professes its openness to foreign investments, which has historically underpinned its technological progress, in recent years, its posture towards Chinese AI startups is, of late, increasingly restrictive. Most recently, Beijing has blocked Meta’s acquisition of Manus, a Chinese-origin, Singapore-based Agentic AI startup hailed as the “Next Deepseek” by Chinese state media and commentators. This presentation deconstructs the regulatory, strategic, and geopolitical logic underlying China’s decision to block and unwind the deal. It identifies four dominant themes: the domestic fissures in policies towards AI enterprises and investors; the deployment of a foreign investment security review of the Manus deal; the evolving postures in China’s AI ecosystem; and finally, Beijing’s seeming reassertion of economic and resource security. While doing so, the presentation highlights significant tensions within Beijing’s policy approaches, its emerging regulatory tactics, and its impact on the larger AI ecosystem. It concludes by assessing the fallout of the Meta–Manus affair on the Xi–Trump summit of May 2026.

Speaker

Megha Shrivastava is an Assistant Professor at PES University, Bengaluru. She is currently an FDDI Fellow at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. She has been a recipient of the 2025 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Taiwan Fellowship, 2025 US-India AI Fellowship with Observer Research Foundation America, Washington DC, and 2024-2025 Network of Advanced Study of China Fellowship with the Bengaluru-based Takshashila Institution. She obtained a PhD from Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India. Her work focuses on China’s Information and Communication Technology Industry, US tech policy towards China, global technology supply chains, and global AI governance.

Chair

Santosh Pai is a dual-qualified cross-border lawyer offering legal services to clients within the India-China corridor. He holds a B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) degree from NLSIU, Bangalore, LL.M. (Chinese law) from Tsinghua University, Beijing and an MBA from Vlerick University, Belgium. He is currently a partner at Dentons Link Legal, an Indian law firm. He is a member of CII's Core Group on China, and Treasurer and Member of the Governing Council at the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi. His major research interests include India-China economic ties, comparative law and policy, and cross-cultural negotiations. In addition to the book under discussion he has also contributed a chapter in China: Indian Perspectives on China’s Politics, Economy, and Foreign Relations (The Hindu Group, 2025).

Please register here