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

Alibaba, a Chinese technology giant, plans to charge major users of its upcoming open-source AI model, Qwen3.8-Max, for a share of the revenue they generate. This move is similar to the revenue-sharing arrangement implemented by Moonshot, another Chinese AI startup, which requires partners to share up to 30% of the revenue generated by their Kimi K3 model.

Alibaba's strategy follows a common pattern observed in the tech industry, where companies offer software at low or zero cost initially, charging for heavy commercial use and additional services. The article highlights that Alibaba has previously charged developers when its models were hosted on its cloud computing platform but allowed most open-source offerings to be used in customers' data centers without payment.

The development of open-source AI models by Chinese firms, including Alibaba and Moonshot, has raised concerns and accusations among U.S. companies, with accusations of technology theft and accusations of unfair business practices.