Meta’s Manus has launched a desktop application called “My Computer” that brings its AI agent off the cloud and onto users’ personal machines, directly challenging OpenClaw on the territory that made the open-source project famous: local device access.
The announcement, covered by CNBC and 9to5Mac, marks the most direct product-level response to OpenClaw from a major tech company. Nvidia’s NemoClaw, unveiled at GTC last week, targets platform-level orchestration. Manus My Computer goes after the same end user: someone who wants an AI agent running on their laptop, touching their files, executing their commands.
What My Computer Actually Does
Through the Manus Desktop app, the agent executes command-line instructions in the user’s local terminal. It can read, analyze, and edit files, launch applications, and chain those actions with Manus’s existing cloud integrations — Google Calendar, Gmail, and third-party services.
Manus describes a scenario where a user away from their laptop can instruct the agent via phone to locate a contract on their home machine and email it to a client through Gmail. The agent bridges local file access and cloud-based email delivery without the user touching the computer.
The app is available on Apple Silicon Macs and Windows. Users select which local folders Manus can access, and every terminal command requires explicit approval — either “Allow Once” for individual review or “Always Allow” for recurring trusted tasks.
The Competitive Landscape Is Getting Crowded
Manus is the third major product in two weeks to adopt the “AI agent on your desktop” model that OpenClaw pioneered. Perplexity launched its “Personal Computer” on March 11, running agents locally on a dedicated Mac Mini. Now Manus arrives with a downloadable app for existing hardware.
The core difference remains pricing and openness. OpenClaw is free and MIT-licensed — anyone can inspect, modify, and redistribute the code. Manus operates on a credit-based subscription model starting at $20/month for 4,000 credits, scaling to $200/month for 40,000 credits, according to its pricing page. Perplexity’s Personal Computer requires a Pro subscription.
For Meta, Manus represents a $2 billion bet placed in December 2025. The company has “deeply integrated” the Manus team, a Meta spokesperson told CNBC, describing the acquisition as expanding Meta’s AI capabilities across its platforms including the Meta AI assistant.
The China Question
Manus was founded in China before relocating its headquarters to Singapore. Chinese officials have reportedly been investigating the acquisition for potential violations of technology export controls, according to the New York Times. Meta told CNBC the deal “complied fully with applicable law” and that it anticipates “an appropriate resolution to the inquiry.”
The investigation adds a geopolitical dimension to the product launch. China’s tech sector has been aggressively adopting OpenClaw and agentic AI more broadly, with Shenzhen offering deployment vouchers and multiple enterprise platforms launching in recent weeks. Manus moving from Chinese ownership to Meta ownership — and now shipping a product that competes with OpenClaw in China’s home market — sits at the intersection of multiple regulatory pressure points.
What This Means for OpenClaw
The validation is obvious: when Meta ships a product that copies your architecture, your thesis is correct. But the competitive pressure is real. Manus has Meta’s distribution, brand, and integration ecosystem behind it. Perplexity has search and consumer AI mindshare. OpenClaw has the developer community, the MIT license, and a six-month head start.
The question for the next quarter: does the local-first AI agent become a commodity feature that every major platform bolts on, or does OpenClaw’s open-source model create a moat through ecosystem depth — plugins, community extensions, and integrations that a closed product can’t replicate at the same pace?
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called OpenClaw “the next ChatGPT” on CNBC two days ago. Meta just showed it agrees — by building its own version.