A New Generation of AI: Hundreds of Virtual Agents Can Now Work Together

Artificial intelligence is entering a new stage of development — not just through more powerful models, but by uniting multiple specialized agents that work together as a team. This innovation promises to drastically accelerate research, data analysis, and even creative processes.

While companies like OpenAI, Google, and xAI are betting on so-called Deep Research systems — tools capable of independently conducting in-depth studies and producing comprehensive reports — the Chinese startup Manus is taking a different approach. It is developing a universal AI agent capable of handling a wide variety of tasks, from travel planning to financial analysis.

Manus’s latest innovation, called Wide Research, allows the simultaneous activation of over 100 AI agents working in parallel on a shared task. This leads to significantly faster results and up to a hundredfold increase in computational efficiency compared to existing solutions.

The system is designed to require no user intervention — it activates automatically when tackling complex research problems. This means that even users without technical expertise can benefit from the capabilities of collective AI.

The potential applications are diverse — from market analysis and management of large data sets to generative tasks, such as producing dozens of unique graphic designs within seconds.

The Wide Research feature is now available to Manus Pro subscribers for $199 per month. The company plans to gradually roll it out to lower-tier subscription plans as well, though with limited functionality.

This move confirms a broader industry trend: leading AI developers are transforming their technologies not only into scientific breakthroughs but also into sustainable business models aimed at professional users.

Integrating multiple AI agents into a single system marks an important step toward a new form of “collective intelligence.” Such technologies have the potential to redefine how research is conducted, decisions are made, and creative products are generated. While tech giants are focusing on ever-deeper and more sequential solutions, Manus demonstrates that a parallel and flexible approach can prove to be just as revolutionary.