Old Zhang's AI Learning

Apr 15, 2026 · Industry Insights

Is the Era of Commercial‑Ready Chinese Open‑Source LLMs Ending? MiniMax M2.7 License Update

The MiniMax M2.7 model switched its open‑source license to forbid commercial use, igniting a heated debate about what constitutes commercial activity, prompting a community clarification that self‑hosted coding remains free, and leading to a revised license that explicitly permits personal, academic, and non‑profit uses while highlighting broader market pressures from cloud providers that are reshaping the open‑source LLM ecosystem.