Alibaba plans to charge big users of its next open-source AI model, sources say

Alibaba plans to ask major users of the next version of its Qwen open-source AI model for a share of the revenue they generate from the offering, according to two people familiar with the company's plans, in a Reuters report carried by BusinessLine. Like last month's blockbuster release from Chinese AI startup Moonshot, Alibaba's Qwen3.8-Max is an open-source, open-weight model, meaning the underlying learned settings that let developers run or adapt the system are available for download, in contrast to the closed-source models of OpenAI, Anthropic and Alphabet's Google. Open source is often thought of as free, but tucked into the licensing terms of Moonshot's Kimi K3 was a provision requiring anyone offering the model for sale as a service and generating more than $20 million in annual sales to work out a commercial agreement with Moonshot, with one source saying Moonshot is requiring up to a 30 percent revenue share. Alibaba plans to implement a similar measure for its open-source model next week, said the two people, who requested anonymity because the plans are not public, and the rate Alibaba will ask for remains unclear as discussions are ongoing. To date, Alibaba has charged developers for use of its models when hosted on its own cloud computing platform, but allowed most of its open-source offerings to be used in customers' own data centers without payment, and the new revenue-share plan would extend charging into self-hosted heavy commercial use. The plans show Chinese AI firms, which have shocked markets by releasing open-source models nearly as capable as those from OpenAI and Anthropic, are converging on a business model as they push to take market share from their US rivals. Revenue-sharing deals are taking shape even as the White House has accused Moonshot of stealing technology from Anthropic, a claim Chinese officials have rejected as unfounded, and Chinasoft International disclosed a revenue-sharing agreement with Moonshot in a regulatory filing last month without disclosing the percentage. The Chinese AI firms are following a common playbook from Silicon Valley: offer software at low or zero cost to start, charging for heavy commercial use and additional services. The open question is what rate Alibaba settles on, how developers react when Qwen3.8-Max ships, and whether the free era of open-source models is quietly coming to an end.