Moonshot AI on Monday published the custom Kimi K3 License with the model's downloadable weights, setting a $20 million aggregate-revenue trigger for Model as a Service operators. The agreement is not an open-source license, and clause 2 requires those operators to sign a separate agreement before commercial use. VentureBeat published the full license text and identified clause 2 as its most significant restriction for enterprise users.

What Changed

AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. More on our AI guidelines.

Clause 2 and $20 million

Clause 2 defines "Model as a Service" as giving a third party access to model inference or fine-tuning. It covers access through an API when that party controls inputs, parameters, or training data. The definition excludes end-user products that embed the model only within specific features or harnesses. It also excludes businesses that merely relay requests to models hosted elsewhere.

An operator meeting that definition must negotiate with Moonshot once the revenue test is met. The test applies when "the aggregate revenue of the Licensee and its affiliates exceeds 20 million US dollars" over any consecutive 12 months. That calculation is not confined to money earned from Kimi K3. Under the license, a smaller subsidiary could cross the threshold because its parent or other affiliates generate enough revenue.

Clause 4 carve-out

Moonshot exempts internal deployments from clauses 2 and 3. The license defines internal use as activity that does not make the software, its outputs, or its capabilities available to third parties. Companies using Kimi K3 for employee research or internal productivity appear to fit that carve-out, according to the published terms.

Use through Moonshot's official products or certified inference partners is also exempt. Customer-facing providers offering inference or fine-tuning with meaningful user control would appear more likely to fall within clause 2.

Clause 3 branding

A separate branding condition applies when a commercial product or service exceeds 100 million monthly active users or $20 million in monthly revenue. Clause 3 requires the name "Kimi K3" to be displayed prominently in the product interface. The display requirement covers the software and any derivative works used in a commercial product or service that reaches either threshold.

That requirement may affect software vendors that usually conceal their underlying model provider. It also operates separately from the annual aggregate-revenue test for Model as a Service businesses.

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Nathan Lambert and Meta

AI researcher Nathan Lambert described the agreement on X as "inspired by MIT but distinctly non-commercial." His post also cited the user and monthly-revenue tests that trigger the display requirement.

Meta uses a different scale test in its Llama community license. According to VentureBeat, developers with more than 700 million monthly users must seek a commercial agreement. Moonshot instead uses the revenue condition for Model as a Service operators.

The Kimi K3 weights and license are available on Hugging Face.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kimi K3 open source?

No. Moonshot published the weights under the custom Kimi K3 License, which is not an open-source license. The agreement attaches commercial conditions that traditional open-source licenses do not carry.

Who has to sign a separate agreement with Moonshot?

Clause 2 applies to operators of what the license calls a Model as a Service business, defined as giving a third party access to model inference or fine-tuning where that party controls inputs, parameters, or training data. Those operators must negotiate separately once the aggregate revenue of the licensee and its affiliates exceeds $20 million over any consecutive 12 months.

Does the $20 million test only count revenue earned from Kimi K3?

No. The license applies the test to the aggregate revenue of the licensee and its affiliates, so the calculation is not confined to money earned from Kimi K3. Under the license, a smaller subsidiary could cross the threshold because its parent or other affiliates generate enough revenue.

When does a company have to display the Kimi K3 name?

Clause 3 applies when a commercial product or service exceeds 100 million monthly active users or $20 million in monthly revenue. At that point the name Kimi K3 must be displayed prominently in the product interface, covering the software and any derivative works used in that product.

How does this compare to Meta's Llama license?

Meta uses a different scale test. According to VentureBeat, developers with more than 700 million monthly users of a Llama-based product must seek a commercial agreement. Moonshot instead keys its condition to revenue for Model as a Service operators.

AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. More on our AI guidelines.

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