**Chinese AI Startup Moonshot AI Negotiates Revenue‑Sharing Deals with U.S. Cloud Providers**
*Beijing/Singapore, 29 August 2026* – Moonshot AI, a Beijing‑based artificial‑intelligence startup, is reportedly in talks with the cloud divisions of Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet’s Google to host its flagship large‑language model, Kimi K3. According to three sources familiar with the negotiations, the company is seeking a revenue share of up to 30 percent from services that use the Kimi K3 model.
The discussions are at an early stage, and the parties have not confirmed whether any agreement will be reached. The sources, who requested anonymity because the talks are private, said that key issues under consideration include the division of revenue, data‑access rights and mechanisms for auditing token usage – the unit of text processed by AI models that underpins usage‑based billing.
If finalized, the arrangements could represent the first major revenue‑sharing partnership between a Chinese AI firm and a U.S. cloud provider. Moonshot, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud have declined to comment on the negotiations.
**Context and Background**
Kimi K3 is an open‑weight model comprising roughly 2.8 trillion parameters. While the model can be downloaded and modified, analysts note that the high computational costs make it unlikely for most customers to run the model on their own infrastructure. Moonshot has previously entered revenue‑sharing agreements with smaller cloud platforms, though details of those deals have not been disclosed.
The startup, founded in 2023 by AI researcher Yang Zhilin (a Carnegie Mellon University alumnus), is backed by several Chinese technology firms, including Alibaba. In May, Moonshot raised more than US$2 billion and is reportedly preparing for a potential listing in Hong Kong.
**U.S. Concerns**
Moonshot has faced scrutiny from U.S. officials. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated last month that the company might be added to a trade blacklist. U.S. authorities have alleged that Moonshot copied elements of Anthropic’s “Fable” model to develop Kimi K3 and that it obtained Nvidia chips in violation of export controls. Moonshot has denied that its model’s performance results from distillation, stating to China’s *National Business Daily* that improvements stem from original architectural changes.
**Industry Implications**
The negotiations occur amid growing interest in Chinese AI models, which are often priced lower than comparable Western offerings, despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and U.S. restrictions on AI‑related technology exports to China. Should the revenue‑sharing deals be concluded, they could set a precedent for cross‑border collaborations in the AI sector.
*Reporting by Anabelle Colaco; original source: Singapore Star.*
Article and image source: singaporestar.com
