Alibaba Qwen3.8-Max: Revenue Sharing for Large Users

Alibaba plans to require companies using its new Qwen3.8-Max AI model for large-scale commercial purposes to share revenue. This model is expected to be released as an open model with open weights. However, large commercial users will likely need to sign a separate contract and share a portion of their earnings. This approach combines open release with a commercial charging structure. Alibaba has not yet finalized specific revenue-sharing ratios. This strategy is similar to one already seen in China, where Moonshot AI requires commercial contracts for services exceeding $20 million in annual revenue. The bottom line is that even within the open-model ecosystem, monetization methods are evolving, potentially impacting the development ecosystem and adoption costs for businesses.