Despite its strong performance, Manus has sparked a broader discussion about the nature of AI startups and the role of application layer wrappers.

Manus is being called the most impressive AI tool ever tried, showcasing its capabilities as a sophisticated computer using AI, unlike its predecessors that were merely specialized chatbots.

The perception that AI startups are merely wrappers around foundational models is misleading; many are creating valuable and innovative companies despite the risks of failure.

Usable AI agents are finally here, with platforms like OpenAI's Deep Research and Google's tools leading the way, and now Manus has joined the competition as a brand new general-purpose AI agent that has taken the world by storm.

A surprising number of AI-native products fail to expose the necessary application primitives to the models, limiting their effectiveness.

Successful AI products like Cursor and Windsurf integrate existing large language models with external APIs and developer-focused tools, demonstrating the viability of the wrapper model.

Manus operates as a multi-agent AI system, coordinating a team of sub-agents to complete various tasks, from travel planning to financial analysis, rather than relying on a single neural network.

Many AI demos look impressive, but the actual products often fail to deliver and aren't widely used in real-world applications.

Ultimately, success in AI relies on the ability to effectively stitch together existing models into products that users genuinely love, rather than reinventing the wheel.