Meta's Manus, the AI company they bought for $2 billion last year, is running ads that look straight out of a get-rich-quick playbook. The pitch is simple: find local businesses with bad or missing websites, use their AI to build new ones, then call those businesses and sell them the site.
To spread the word, Manus paid content creators to build Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok accounts promoting this as an easy side hustle. The catch? Many of these creator posts didn't clearly disclose their connection to Manus. The Verge started asking questions, and suddenly those TikTok accounts disappeared.
This matters because it shows how AI tools are being marketed not as productivity enhancers, but as shortcuts to passive income. That framing attracts people looking for quick money rather than those building real skills or businesses.
The approach also raises questions about Meta's oversight of its acquisitions. A $2 billion company running influencer campaigns that obscure paid relationships isn't a great look, especially when the product pitch feels more like a pyramid scheme than a professional service.
For anyone actually using AI in their work, this is a reminder that the tool is only as good as the strategy behind it. Cold calling businesses with AI-generated websites isn't a sustainable business model, it's just spam with better graphics.
