How Yichao "Peak" Ji became a global AI app hitmaker (www.technologyreview.com)

Yichao “Peak” Ji, MIT Technology Review’s 2025 Innovator Under 35 and chief scientist at Beijing startup Butterfly Effect, became a global AI app hitmaker after a low‑budget launch video for Manus went viral. The invite‑only AI agent amassed a roughly 2 million‑person waitlist within days by promising more than chat: users give high‑level requests (for example, “find an apartment within X budget”) and Manus decomposes the task into steps, then executes them on a cloud‑hosted virtual machine equipped with a browser and automation tools to browse sites, fill forms and complete transactions. Technically and strategically, Manus exemplifies the “agentization” trend—agents that act autonomously in the web ecosystem—and reflects a cross‑border industry model: developed by a Chinese team, running on US infrastructure (Microsoft Azure) and models such as Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet, and using open‑source tooling like Browser Use. Backed by Benchmark and relocated to Singapore, the project highlights how talent, infrastructure and capital now flow globally. For AI/ML practitioners the product underscores key opportunities (practical task automation, system‑of‑tools architectures) and challenges (security, reliability and regulatory risks when agents perform real‑world actions across jurisdictions). Ji’s track record in building consumer and B2B products gives Manus credibility as a serious attempt to commercialize autonomous web agents at scale.