Manus AI: The First Fully Autonomous AI Agent Sets New Benchmark Records

A Chinese AI startup has introduced Manus, which it calls the world’s first fully autonomous AI agent—designed to handle real-world tasks independently, without human intervention.

Manus claims state-of-the-art (SOTA) performance across multiple AI benchmarks, including GAIA, which evaluates general AI assistants on solving complex, real-world problems.

Manus AI: Fully Autonomous Task Execution

Unlike traditional AI assistants like ChatGPT or Gemini, which require continuous user input, Manus operates independently, handling multi-step workflows with minimal supervision. It can navigate software, analyze data, and execute complex tasks from start to finish without human intervention, functioning more like a digital worker than a conventional assistant.

Manus is capable of performing a wide range of real-world tasks, including:

• Business & Research – Conducts resume screening, property research, and AI market analysis.

• Web & Freelance Automation – Handles web browsing, coding, content creation, and freelance jobs on Upwork and Fiverr.

• Finance & Investment – Generates interactive stock market dashboards with deep financial insights.

• Education & Training – Develops interactive courses for educators on subjects like the Momentum Theorem.

• Legal & Insurance – Creates structured policy comparison tables with tailored recommendations.

• E-Commerce & Operations – Analyzes Amazon store sales, providing data-driven strategies for growth.

• Personalized Travel Planning – Designs detailed itineraries and handbooks for international trips.

The Manus team is also accepting public task submissions, allowing users to request AI-driven projects and explore its full capabilities. For more examples of what Manus can do, visit their official website.

By navigating software, analyzing data, and taking action on its own, Manus functions more like a digital worker than a conventional AI assistant, marking a significant step toward fully autonomous AI systems.

GAIA Benchmark Results: How Manus Compares

Manus has outperformed leading AI assistants, including ChatGPT and Gemini, across all three levels of the GAIA benchmark.

The Future of AI Agents: What’s Next?

Manus is currently operating on an invite-only basis, but the company has announced plans to open-source its AI models later this year.

This launch marks a significant shift in AI development—moving from assistive AI models (which require human oversight) to fully autonomous agents capable of handling multi-step workflows independently.

As AI continues to evolve, Manus could signal a new wave of autonomous AI agents, competing with major players like OpenAI and Google in the race for general AI dominance.

What This Means

Manus AI’s autonomous capabilities represent a significant shift in AI development, moving beyond traditional assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini, which require human prompting and oversight.

If Manus delivers on its claims, it could mark the next evolution of AI agents—handling complex, multi-step tasks entirely on their own. This could have major implications across industries:

• Workforce Automation – Fully autonomous AI agents could begin replacing human workers in administrative, research, and technical roles.

• Freelance & Gig Economy Disruption – AI handling tasks on Upwork and Fiverr suggests growing competition between AI and human freelancers.

• Enterprise AI Adoption – Businesses could start relying on AI agents for decision-making, operations, and research, reducing the need for human involvement.

• AI Regulation & Safety – As AI becomes more autonomous, ensuring transparency, accountability, and ethical use will become even more critical.

Perhaps most notably, Manus AI comes from a relatively unknown company, yet it has achieved state-of-the-art performance on the GAIA benchmark, surpassing major AI players. This suggests that the race for advanced AI agents is no longer limited to big tech companies like OpenAI and Google—smaller, emerging startups are now pushing the boundaries of what AI can do.

With Manus outperforming established AI models, the question now is whether other AI companies will accelerate their push toward fully autonomous agents—and what this means for the future of work, productivity, and AI governance.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.