Chinese artificial-intelligence startup Moonshot AI is in early-stage negotiations with Microsoft, Amazon and Google over revenue-sharing agreements that could bring its powerful Kimi K3 AI model to three of the world’s largest cloud platforms.
If completed, the agreements could represent the first major revenue-sharing arrangement between a Chinese AI developer and leading US cloud providers, despite intensifying Washington-Beijing tensions over artificial intelligence and advanced semiconductors.
Kimi K3 Could Come to Azure, AWS and Google Cloud
According to Reuters, Moonshot is discussing arrangements that would allow Kimi K3 to be offered through Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud.
The negotiations remain preliminary, meaning there is no guarantee that final agreements will be reached.
For Moonshot, access to the three cloud giants could dramatically expand Kimi K3’s reach among businesses and developers outside China.
Moonshot Reportedly Seeks Up to 30% Revenue Share
A major part of the negotiations involves how revenue generated by Kimi K3 would be divided.
Moonshot is reportedly seeking as much as 30% of revenue generated from K3-related services on the three cloud platforms. The companies are still discussing issues including how revenue would be calculated, data access and mechanisms for auditing token usage.
Moonshot has already established similar arrangements with smaller platforms. Chinese IT-services company Chinasoft International disclosed a revenue-sharing agreement with Moonshot in July, although financial terms were not revealed.
Why Kimi K3 Is Attracting Attention
Kimi K3 is an open-weight AI model containing 2.8 trillion parameters. Despite being available for users to download and modify, its enormous computational requirements mean relatively few organizations are likely to operate the full system independently.
That makes distribution through large cloud platforms particularly important.
The model has also performed strongly in independent evaluations. Arena.ai ranked K3 first on a benchmark measuring web-interface building, while Artificial Analysis found its performance competitive with leading frontier models on complex, multi-step tasks.
US-China AI Tensions Could Complicate Deal
The potential partnerships are particularly significant because they are emerging amid escalating US-China competition over artificial intelligence.
Washington has restricted exports of advanced AI chips to China and US officials have raised concerns about Moonshot. Reuters reports that the company faces allegations from some US officials involving intellectual-property theft and illegal acquisition of advanced chips, allegations that add uncertainty around potential American partnerships.
The talks nevertheless demonstrate how lower-cost Chinese AI models are attracting international commercial interest, even as governments tighten technology restrictions.
Moonshot Prepares for Potential IPO
Founded in 2023 by AI researcher Yang Zhilin, Moonshot has quickly become one of China’s most prominent generative-AI companies.
The startup is backed by major Chinese technology investors, including Alibaba. It raised more than $2 billion in May 2026 and is preparing for a potential Hong Kong stock-market listing.
A distribution agreement with Microsoft, Amazon or Google could therefore provide Moonshot with more than additional revenue. It could give Kimi K3 direct access to global enterprise customers and establish an important commercial bridge between the Chinese and American AI ecosystems.
For now, however, the discussions remain ongoing. No final agreement with Microsoft, Amazon or Google has been announced.
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