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

Moonshot AI has already drawn attention for a policy that applies to any company selling the model as a service and earning more than $20 million a year, putting a commercial price on access to a model that is still described as open-weight.

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

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

The Chinese startup has said that companies generating less than $20 million in annual revenue can host Kimi K3 without owing Moonshot anything. Companies that earn more than that amount from reselling the model would pay up to 30% of their revenue.

AI researcher Rohan Paul recently raised concerns on X that Kimi K3’s terms are structured to protect Moonshot’s own hosting business, even though the model ships with open weights. According to Paul, large model-as-a-service providers must obtain Moonshot’s permission before offering it, and very large applications built on the model are required to advertise Kimi K3.

The terms can also include additional commercial conditions in private partner contracts.

Despite those restrictions, DigitalOcean chief executive Paddy Srinivasan confirmed that the company has reached a commercial arrangement with Moonshot.

A regulatory filing last month also showed that Chinasoft International entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with Moonshot, although the percentage was not disclosed. The negotiations with Microsoft, Amazon, and Google suggest Moonshot is applying the same model to larger cloud platforms that already play a central role in how enterprises access and deploy AI tools.

Which other firms require companies to pay for reselling their models?

Alibaba plans to require large commercial users of the open-weight version of its Qwen3.8-Max model to share revenue, although the rate is still being negotiated.

Alibaba shares rose 7% in Hong Kong after the Qwen3.8-Max announcement. The stock later suffered a separate decline on August 24, falling by as much as 10% after the company announced a large share placement to fund AI development.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has also launched a revenue-sharing program that gives AI startups access to its hardware in exchange for a portion of the cloud revenue those partners generate.

Sharon AI and Firmus Technologies are reportedly Nvidia’s first participants.