Meta's Manus launches desktop app to bring its AI agent onto personal devices amid OpenClaw craze

Meta-owned Manus launched a desktop application with a feature called 'My Computer' that allows its AI agent (a program that can complete complex, multi-step tasks automatically) to access and control files, tools, and applications directly on a user's computer, rather than only working in the cloud. This move competes with OpenClaw, a free, open-source AI agent that similarly runs on local devices. Experts have raised security and privacy concerns about giving AI agents local device access, but Manus addressed this by requiring explicit user approval before the agent executes tasks.