Meta is running get-rich-quick ads for its AI tools

Manus, an AI company Meta acquired for $2 billion last year is running ads promising quick, easy money with AI: Find local businesses without websites or with bad websites, have AI build them one, then call them up and sell it to them. Meta is running get-rich-quick ads for its AI tools Manus, integrated into Meta, paid creators to tell you not to get a part-time job. Manus, integrated into Meta, paid creators to tell you not to get a part-time job. As part of the campaign, Manus was paying content creators to build out Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok accounts that promote its AI product as an easy, lucrative gig. (The creators’ TikTok accounts were taken down after The Verge inquired about them.) Some of these videos would also appear as official ads for Manus, but the posts on the paid creator accounts themselves often obscured their ties to the company. The ads were not subtle. Posted by an account called “Manus AI by Meta,” one video presented Manus’ AI agent as an “Easy side hustle” that “absolutely anybody can do” — one that supposedly “takes less than 10 minutes” and can bring in a “potential $5k a month.” The young person in the video says, “There is literally no limit.” Except, I guess, the number of businesses willing to buy an AI-generated website from a stranger on the internet. The ad did not tag the creator featured in it, but their TikTok account, which has since been removed, was filled almost entirely with Manus content. Their Instagram account, which is still live, is nearly identical. Neither disclosed any connection to Manus in its bio or posts. Across TikTok and Instagram, I found a network of other accounts posting near-identical Manus content, much of it hyping the website scheme, but also selling vibe-coded apps. The accounts were strikingly similar. They looked the same, used the same language, and promised the same thing: “The art of Manus” with a close-up of their face, “my websites don’t look vibe-coded anymore,” “don’t get a part-time job,” and a “making [thousands of dollars] without talking challenge” as the creators put tape over their mouths. Most accounts were only a few months old, had only ever posted about Manus, and appeared to be run by creators in their late teens or early 20s. The majority of posts had no noticeable engagement, though some were viral hits with tens of thousands of likes, comments, and shares. Some accounts vaguely referenced to “building with Manus” in their bio, or something similar. A few listed what appeared to be real names, and those led to LinkedIn profiles identifying them as contractors producing content for Manus. There was also a person whose LinkedIn profile said that Manus hired them in January as a contract “viral growth expert” to “lead a team of 10–20 content creators,” enforce “strict brand guidelines and quality benchmarks,” guide creators on persona-specific content, and run coaching sessions training creators on how to go viral. The…