Moonshot AI wants to claim 30% revenue from U.S. cloud giants

Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI is reportedly in talks with U.S. cloud giants, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, in a licensing arrangement that could include charging the companies as much as 30% of their revenue from reselling its open-weight Kimi K3 model. 

Moonshot AI has already been in the news over a requirement that applies to any firm that sells the model as a service and earns more than $20 million a year. 

Why is Moonshot AI asking for a cut from U.S. companies? 

Moonshot AI is currently in early-stage negotiations with Microsoft, Amazon, and Google about revenue-sharing deals to host Kimi K3 on their cloud platforms, according to Reuters. 

Chinese AI startup Moonshot has announced that companies pulling in below $20 million in annual revenue can host Kimi K3 without owing Moonshot anything, but companies earning above that figure from reselling will shell out up to 30% of their revenue. 

AI researcher Rohan Paul recently raised concerns on X that Kimi K3’s terms are written to shield Moonshot’s own hosting business despite the fact that it ships with open weights. The terms dictate that large model-as-a-service providers need Moonshot’s permission before they can offer it, and very large applications built on the model are required to advertise Kimi K3. 

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