Alibaba is preparing to introduce a new monetization strategy for its next-generation open-source AI model, marking a significant shift in how Chinese technology firms are commercializing artificial intelligence.
According to a Reuters report, the company plans to require large commercial users of its upcoming Qwen3.8-Max model to share a portion of the revenue generated from AI-powered services built using the technology.
The move signals a departure from Alibaba’s previous approach, under which businesses could deploy its open-source models in their own data centers without paying licensing fees. Instead, enterprises generating more than $20 million annually from applications based on the new model will reportedly be required to enter revenue-sharing agreements with Alibaba.
The announced licensing system is nearly identical to the commercial system that the Chinese AI company, Moonshot AI, uses for its Kimi K3 model. Although small firms and developers are expected to keep on using the model without any fees, large companies that make significant money through their AI products have to pay Alibaba.
This approach demonstrates a wider trend of how AI developers seek viable sources of income as the expense of training and implementing foundation models keeps growing.
Alibaba unveiled Qwen3.8-Max earlier this week, describing it as its most capable AI model to date. Built with 2.4 trillion parameters using a mixture-of-experts architecture, the model is designed to deliver high performance while reducing computing costs by activating only a fraction of its parameters during inference.
Despite maintaining an open-weight approach, the company now appears focused on converting enterprise adoption into long-term revenue, similar to the ‘freemium’ strategies increasingly seen across the global AI industry.
Also Read: Alibaba Launches Qwen3.8 Max to Challenge Anthropic AI
Alibaba’s decision comes amid intensifying competition with OpenAI, Anthropic and a growing number of Chinese AI developers, including DeepSeek and Moonshot AI.
As companies invest billions of dollars in model development and cloud infrastructure, many are moving beyond free distribution toward commercial licensing, premium cloud services and revenue-sharing agreements.
If implemented, Alibaba’s new policy could reshape how open-source AI is commercialized, allowing developers continued access while ensuring the company captures value from businesses building large-scale commercial products on its technology.