Capital Group, Kushner’s Thrive Visited China to Study AI Scene

Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital and investment firm Capital Group have in recent months visited China to learn about its AI industry, joining a growing number of US investors rekindling interest in the country after DeepSeek’s advances stunned Silicon Valley.

Senior people at Thrive met with companies and funds in China to discuss AI, people familiar with their visit to the country said. Kushner didn’t join the delegation, one of the people said, asking to remain anonymous discussing a private event. At the same time, Capital Group — one of the world’s largest funds — dispatched senior executives to China to find out more about the AI scene, the people said.

The separate visits took place around the time Uber Technologies Inc.-backer Benchmark Capital agreed to lead an investment in Butterfly Effect, creator of the up-and-coming AI service Manus that’s got Chinese-born founders. The outreach underscores tentative but mounting interest in a once-overlooked Chinese AI industry that’s getting re-assessed since DeepSeek proved a homegrown firm can design a platform on par with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic.

It’s unclear how far those talks have gone, or if they’ll result in actual investments. A representative for Thrive, controlled by the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, said in an email the firm doesn’t have any investments in China and doesn’t intend to invest. A Capital Group spokesperson declined to comment.

Kushner has previously been critical of the US tech industry’s enthusiasm for DeepSeek, and at a recent conference in DC said that he hoped the US would produce the leading AI company. “Proficient and efficient artificial intelligence needs to be built with American democratic values,” Kushner said in April. “And if it’s not, then I think the consequences are going to be quite extraordinary for the Western world.”

Any deal to finance Chinese AI startups is unlikely to sit well with hawks in Washington wary of US capital bankrolling a Chinese technological apparatus amid tightening scrutiny from Trump’s administration.

Benchmark itself has drawn fire from Silicon Valley figures on social media for investing in Manus, despite the startup offering its service largely outside of China. 

The Treasury Department is now asking questions about the Manus deal, Semafor has reported. Manus and Benchmark spokespeople declined to comment, although the startup lists its location as Singapore on its LinkedIn page.

Manus, co-founded by Xiao Hong, Cheung Tao and Peak Ji Yichao, raised more than $10 million in previous financing, several China-based media outlets have reported, including from Tencent Holdings Ltd. and prominent VC firms ZhenFund and HSG, formerly Sequoia China.

With assistance from Laura Benitez, Anne VanderMey and Kate Clark.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.