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

Reuters reports Alibaba will require major users of its upcoming open-source Qwen 3.8-Max AI model to negotiate commercial licenses and share revenue from products built with the model. The revenue share rate is not yet set, and the measure may be introduced next week. The plan follows Moonshot’s Kimi K3 licensing, which can require paid deals and up to 30% revenue sharing.

Bloomberg quoted Union Bancaire Privée’s Vey-Sern Ling saying investors may underestimate Chinese AI models under chip limits. Alibaba shares rose over 4%. Alibaba plans to release Qwen3.8 Max weights for public download next week. The article also cites a report that Apple gained approval for Apple Intelligence in China, with Alibaba’s Qwen expected to support it. BABA has a $309B market cap and an average $182.55 price target.

Reuters reports Alibaba plans to require large enterprises using its next open-source AI model, Qwen3.8-Max, to enter revenue-sharing agreements for commercial deployments. Weights would remain freely downloadable, but the revenue share percentage is not finalized. The approach is compared to Moonshot’s Kimi K3, which can seek up to 30% from firms over $20M annual sales. Alibaba shares closed at $126.81.

Alibaba plans to require major users of its open Qwen AI model (Qwen3.8-Max) to share revenue from using the model, starting next week, according to two people familiar with the plans. Details and the percentage are not yet public. The move follows similar revenue-sharing licensing for Moonshot’s Kimi K3 and reflects monetization trends in China’s AI sector.

The Pentagon updated its 1260H list of China military-linked firms, adding Alibaba, Baidu, BYD, WuXi AppTec, RoboSense and Unitree. From later this month, the Defense Department will be barred from direct contracting with listed firms, with third-party procurement limits starting June 2027. Alibaba and WuXi AppTec disputed the designations; memory chipmakers CXMT and YMTC were reinstated.

Alibaba Group shares rose about 4% pre-market in New York after the company unveiled Qwen 3.8-Max, its most capable Qwen AI model to date. Alibaba said the model has 2.4 trillion parameters, supports multimodal image and text tasks, and will become fully open-source next week. The company expects AI products to drive cloud revenue growth.