Moonshot AI has released the weights for its 2.8 trillion parameter Kimi K3 model, a 1.56TB download available on Hugging Face. This release follows a distinct shift in licensing strategy compared to the previous Kimi K2 version. The earlier model operated under a modified MIT license that required specific attribution for large commercial entities. The new K3 license abandons the “modified MIT” label entirely and instead mandates a separate agreement with Moonshot for any Model as a Service business generating over 20 million US dollars in annual revenue.
The company consistently uses the term “open weight” rather than “open source” in its documentation to describe these terms. This distinction reflects a more restrictive approach to distribution for high-scale commercial operators. OpenRouter currently offers the model through seven providers, with pricing matching Moonshot’s own rates of 3 dollars per million input tokens and 15 dollars per million output tokens.
* The license removes the previous requirement to display “Kimi K2” on user interfaces for large entities.
* Moonshot sets a 12-month revenue threshold of 20 million US dollars for mandatory separate agreements.
* The model weights are distributed directly by Moonshot AI alongside third-party resellers.
