Meta separates Manus AI agent from its platforms, orders user data deletion

A diffuse ownership picture

A practical consequence of the split lands on users. Manus has acknowledged that anyone who registered with an Apple ID or a Facebook account will not receive an email notice about the data deletion, because the company holds no email address for those accounts. Instead, those users will be reached through in-app messages, a channel that depends on them reopening the Manus product to learn that their information is being erased.

The instruction to delete data reflects heightened scrutiny of how AI products ingest and store personal information gathered via large consumer platforms. Meta's decision, framed internally as a compliance matter, follows a period during which regulators in multiple jurisdictions have pressed social media companies and AI developers to clarify the legal basis for sharing login-derived data with third-party model providers.

Why the login link matters

For Manus, the separation cuts off a convenient on-ramp for new users. Apple ID and Facebook login flows have become standard friction-reducers across consumer apps, and losing them complicates sign-up, identity verification and the seamless transfer of basic profile fields into a new service. Manus has not yet published a replacement authentication path, though it has signalled that email-based registration will continue to be available.

The episode also highlights the operational cost of relying on big-platform identity providers. Companies that built their initial user base through single-sign-on arrangements can find themselves with large numbers of accounts they cannot easily contact when a partnership ends, a gap that is now playing out publicly in the Manus case. Industry analysts note that the same pattern has affected smaller apps cut off from sign-in partners in past disputes.

Neither Meta nor Manus has fully detailed the scope of the data to be deleted. The companies have not said whether deletion covers only profile metadata collected at login or also extends to interaction logs and model inputs tied to those accounts. The lack of specifics has prompted privacy advocates to call for an independent audit before any data is overwritten.

What is being deleted, and what is not clear

The fallout extends beyond consumer privacy. Manus had positioned itself as a 'general agent' capable of operating across browsers, email and productivity tools on behalf of users, and several enterprise pilot programmes had been built around the assumption of stable Meta-platform integrations. Integrators are now reassessing those deployments and asking whether Manus can deliver comparable connectivity through alternative identity and messaging providers.

Investors in Manus are watching the situation closely. Sequoia China and other backers are understood to have pushed for a quick resolution that preserves Manus's consumer foothold while reopening dialogue with Meta on narrower terms. Whether such talks resume will depend in part on how cleanly the data-deletion process is executed and whether regulators in Beijing, Brussels and Washington signal satisfaction with the outcome.

For now, Manus users face an immediate, if mundane, instruction: open the app, check for a notification, and consider whether they want to re-register with an email address before any further changes take effect.