This weekly startup digest reveals an AI revolution happening right now in early 2026, where computers are becoming digital workers. The most exciting development this week was Meta's acquisition of Manus, a Singapore-based startup that made AI agents famous. Meta paid over $2 billion for Manus, which is a huge amount of money. Why did Meta spend so much? Because Manus built AI agents that can do really smart tasks all by themselves. These agents can research information, write code, and solve problems without a human giving step-by-step instructions.

What makes Manus special is that it grew incredibly fast. The startup made over $100 million in annual revenue in just eight months after it launched. That means people and companies loved using it. Manus agents reportedly work better than other AI agents from famous companies like OpenAI. The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, wants to put these agents into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other Meta products so regular people can use them too.

Two other AI startups announced amazing fundraising victories this week. LMArena, a company that evaluates and compares different AI systems, raised $150 million and became worth $1.7 billion. The company grew super fast after launching its evaluation service in September 2025, reaching $30 million in annual spending by December. Lovable, a Swedish startup that helps non-technical people create software by typing in simple English, raised $330 million and tripled its value to $6.6 billion in just six months. Lovable grew from making $1 million per year to $200 million per year in just one year!

AI agents are at the heart of this startup boom. An AI agent is a computer program that can think, make decisions, and complete tasks without a human controlling it like a video game character. Think of it like hiring a digital employee who never gets tired. These agents can work in customer service, finance, manufacturing, software development, and many other areas.

Experts and investors are making big predictions about AI agents for 2026. They believe agents will grow from a $5.2 billion business in 2024 to nearly $200 billion by 2034. That's a 40-time increase! By the end of 2026, AI agents might be able to work independently for eight or more hours, handling complicated projects with many steps. Some investors call 2026 "the year of the agent employee" because AI is moving from being a tool that helps humans (like spell-check) to being a worker that does actual jobs.

This shift is changing how companies think about buying software. Instead of paying for software by the seat (like one subscription per person), companies will soon pay based on work completed. This is similar to hiring a contractor who charges by the project instead of by the hour. Venture capitalists believe this could disrupt a huge part of the economy - the $13 trillion spent on business work every year.

AI agents are also appearing in shopping and advertising. Google announced a new standard called the Universal Commerce Protocol to help AI agents shop and buy things online. Yahoo launched AI agents that can automatically set up advertising campaigns, fix problems, and suggest improvements. These tools help businesses work faster and smarter.

The investment world is throwing enormous amounts of money at AI startups. In 2025, AI startups raised over $202 billion globally, which was 75% more than the $114 billion invested in 2024. Just this week, the huge investment company Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) raised $15 billion in new funds to invest in startups, with much of that going to AI companies. Many other famous investors like Sequoia Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, and others are also investing heavily in AI agents and the infrastructure needed to support them.

Famous AI companies are also making big moves. Anthropic, which created Claude AI, is predicted to possibly sell shares on the stock market in 2026. OpenAI raised billions of dollars and is valued at $500 billion. Mistral AI from France, Project Prometheus from Jeff Bezos (former Amazon CEO) backed with over $6 billion, and many other startups are racing to build better AI agents.

Smaller AI startups are also thriving. Companies like Airia (an AI security company), Aurascape (an AI security startup), WitnessAI, Imbue, and many others are building specialized tools that companies need. These startups help businesses safely use AI agents without security problems.

The week's news shows that 2026 is genuinely different from previous years. The focus has shifted from making chatbots (like ChatGPT) to making AI agents that can actually work like employees. Every major tech company, startup, and investor is racing to build the best AI agents and the computer systems they need. For readers worldwide, this AI agent revolution is happening in Silicon Valley (United States), Singapore, France, and many other countries.