Moonshot Negotiates Kimi K3 Cloud Revenue Sharing
Moonshot AI is negotiating potential revenue-sharing agreements with Microsoft, Amazon and Google on August 26 that could let their cloud platforms host its Kimi K3 model, Reuters reported. Sources familiar with the private discussions told Reuters that Moonshot is seeking up to 30% of revenue from K3-related services. The talks are early-stage, and no agreements are certain.
Moonshot AI is in early talks with Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet's Google on revenue-sharing agreements that could allow Azure, AWS and Google Cloud to host the Chinese startup's Kimi K3 AI model, Reuters reported on August 26.
Reuters, citing three people familiar with the private discussions, reported that Moonshot is seeking up to 30% of revenue generated by K3-related services on the three cloud platforms. The proposed percentage is consistent with terms Moonshot has outlined for major customers using the open-weight model, according to Reuters.
The sources said the negotiations remain at an early stage and may not produce agreements. Moonshot did not respond to Reuters' request for comment, while Microsoft, Google and AWS declined to comment.
A potentially unusual cloud distribution arrangement
Reuters described a completed agreement as potentially the first major revenue-sharing pact between a Chinese AI company and a large US cloud provider. The reported structure differs from a conventional API distribution arrangement because it would directly tie Moonshot's compensation to downstream K3 service revenue.
For ML platform teams, a cloud-hosted open-weight model creates operational questions beyond model availability, including inference metering, tenant isolation, model-version governance and the terms under which usage data is measured for commercial settlement. These are common implementation issues in revenue-sharing model distribution, rather than details Reuters reported as agreed by the parties.
Geopolitical constraints remain material
The talks occur amid US-China tensions over AI technology and US restrictions on AI chip exports to China, Reuters reported. Reuters also noted that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in July that he might add Moonshot to a trade blacklist.
Reuters reported that US officials have accused Moonshot of obtaining Nvidia chips illegally and of using Anthropic model outputs to help develop Kimi K3. Moonshot rejected suggestions that K3's performance was achieved through distillation in comments to China's National Business Daily, according to Reuters.
Those unresolved policy and supply-chain questions could complicate any cross-border model-hosting arrangement. More generally, enterprise buyers evaluating models across jurisdictions often require clear documentation on model provenance, hosting geography, data handling and the continuity risks associated with trade controls.
Key Points
- 1Reuters reports Moonshot seeks up to 30% of Kimi K3 service revenue, making commercial metering central to any agreement.
- 2The talks could create a major US cloud distribution route for a Chinese open-weight model, but remain explicitly uncertain.
- 3Comparable cross-border AI hosting arrangements commonly require scrutiny of data governance, provenance, export controls and service continuity.
Scoring Rationale
The reported negotiations involve three leading cloud providers and a potentially significant distribution channel for a Chinese AI model. The agreements are not finalized, but their terms could matter for model availability, platform economics and cross-border AI governance.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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