Meta's Manus Launches Desktop Version, AI Agents Break Free from Cloud to Directly Control Users' Local Computers

CryptoWorld reports that according to 1M AI News monitoring, Manus, the general AI agent platform acquired by Meta at the end of last year, released the desktop application Manus Desktop yesterday. Its core feature, “My Computer,” brings Manus from the cloud sandbox to users’ local computers for the first time, now available to macOS and Windows users. Since its launch, Manus has operated entirely within a cloud isolation sandbox, with capabilities such as internet access, command line, file system, and browser, but it cannot access users’ local files and applications.

My Computer allows local operations by executing command-line instructions on the user’s device, enabling reading, analyzing, and editing local files, as well as launching and controlling local applications. The official blog showcases scenarios including automatically recognizing and organizing thousands of messy photos, and building a real-time meeting translation app on Mac using Swift—all completed via terminal commands in 20 minutes without opening Xcode.

Regarding permissions, each terminal command requires explicit user authorization before execution, offering “Always Allow” and “Allow Once” options. My Computer also supports calling the local GPU for machine learning training or large model inference, enabling users to remotely send tasks to their home computers from mobile devices or other devices, as long as the computer is on and Manus Desktop is running. This feature also integrates Manus’s existing scheduled tasks and custom agents, allowing automation of routine local tasks, such as cleaning the downloads folder every morning or generating weekly local data reports.