Kimi K2.6 family
Released image-text model with downloadable weights and vLLM/SGLang self-hosting instructions; it should not be conflated with the separate Kimi K3 service/model record.
Score calculation
(2 + 2 + 6 + 1 + 7) ÷ 5 = 3.6
5 of six dimensions rated. Unrated dimensions are excluded from the average.
Full scoring method ↗Setup details
Moonshot Kimi K2.6 released weights, distinct from the current Kimi K3 profile; K2.6 is a multimodal checkpoint.
What fits your needs
Moonshot Kimi K2.6 released weights, distinct from the current Kimi K3 profile; K2.6 is a multimodal checkpoint.
Good fit
Released image-text model with downloadable weights and vLLM/SGLang self-hosting instructions; it should not be conflated with the separate Kimi K3 service/model record.
Tradeoffs to expect
Tradeoffs
Modified MIT is listed on the Kimi K2.6 model card; read its exact terms for this release. Weights and deployment code are public, but modified-MIT terms and limited training recipe/source disclosure leave meaningful restrictions and reproducibility gaps. K2.6 openness does not change the separate K3 profile.
How to switch
Local setup
The official card documents vLLM and SGLang serving, but the model is a large multimodal MoE. Check the exact memory and supported accelerator requirements.
Practical questions
Weights and license
Fetch the exact checkpoint revision and read its own license; sibling and distilled variants may inherit different terms.
Hardware
The official card documents vLLM and SGLang serving, but the model is a large multimodal MoE. Check the exact memory and supported accelerator requirements.
Training data
Treat the weight license and public web/data availability separately from evidence of permission for the training data.
This is a practices and disclosure score for the named release, not a request-level energy or emissions estimate.
See the evidence
The official release supports self-hosting but doesn’t confirm training or inference electricity, emissions, or water. This score rewards a stated operating boundary; it does not infer impact from missing measurements.
1 + 1 reporting + 0 electricity + 0 controls = 2/10. This grades documented practices and transparency.
No per-request electricity, emissions, water, serving mix, or independently reviewed footprint is established in the cited sources.
- Reporting1/3
- The official release materials provide downloadable weights and a local serving path for Kimi K2.6; this establishes an operating boundary, not a measured footprint.
- Electricity sourcing0/3
- No model-specific clean-electricity sourcing or hourly power evidence is published in the reviewed sources; zero means unestablished, not dirty electricity.
- Resource controls0/3
- No model-specific documented control or measured physical resource reduction is established by the reviewed release materials. Public weights or smaller variants alone do not prove reduced resource use.
Water disclosure
Water reporting has not been assessed for this choice.
The release provides some training-process information, but not a complete permission ledger for inherited and later training data.
See the evidence
The K2.6 card and repository identify the checkpoint and provide deployment instructions, but do not publish a complete source-level training data or rights ledger. A public weight license governs use of those weights; it is not proof that every training source was permitted.
1 base + 1 source transparency + 0 documented permission + 0 creator controls = 2/10. Weight licensing is not treated as training data permission.
Complete source lists, source-specific rights, inherited-base provenance, synthetic-data generation permissions, and creator removal or retraining remedies remain unestablished.
- Source transparency1/3
- The K2.6 card and repository identify the checkpoint and provide deployment instructions, but do not publish a complete source-level training data or rights ledger.
- Documented permission0/4
- A model-weight license governs the released checkpoint, not automatically the training data. The reviewed release doesn’t confirm affirmative rights for all inherited and post-training material.
- Creator controls0/2
- The reviewed model documentation doesn’t show creator permission covering all training data, opt-out, removal, or retraining remedy for this model family.
Privacy depends on where these released weights are run; the model family has no single prompt-retention or training route.
See the evidence
The official release makes weights available for separate deployments, but it does not define one inference host or retention policy for every user. Local and hosted operators may handle prompts differently, so a single numerical privacy grade would misstate this model-level entry.
The user-selected host, region, telemetry, logging, extensions, and provider training terms are outside the checkpoint release and require a route-specific review.
Weights and deployment code are public, but modified-MIT terms and limited training recipe/source disclosure leave meaningful restrictions and reproducibility gaps. K2.6 openness does not change the separate K3 profile.
See the evidence
Weights and deployment code are public, but modified-MIT terms and limited training recipe/source disclosure leave meaningful restrictions and reproducibility gaps. K2.6 openness does not change the separate K3 profile. This openness rating concerns artifacts and reproducibility only; it does not assess whether the original training data was authorized.
Modified MIT is listed on the Kimi K2.6 model card; read its exact terms for this release. Model weights and documentation are available, but limitations described above reduce source-level reproducibility.
The checked release and license apply to the named checkpoints; sibling variants, future versions, and the underlying training data may have different terms or disclosures.
Moonshot’s reviewed Kimi terms, company site and model pages do not disclose workforce conditions, labor grievance mechanisms or supplier audit outcomes.
See the evidence
The sources reviewed provide product, terms, or corporate information but no qualifying disclosure about conditions for data annotators, evaluators, moderators, or infrastructure workers. This is a disclosure gap within the checked materials, not evidence that workers are mistreated or that no labor policy exists.
1 base + 0 conditions + 0 worker voice/remedy + 0 evidence/follow-through = 1/10. This grades documented safeguards, not proven mistreatment.
Worker counts, locations, pay, labor protections, worker voice mechanisms, supplier coverage, and independent audit or remediation outcomes were not established in the sources reviewed.
- Pay & conditions0/3
- Reviewed sources provide no qualifying disclosure of worker conditions; this zero is limited to the checked material and is not an exhaustive claim.
- Worker voice & remedy0/3
- No qualifying worker-voice mechanism or documented worker grievance outcomes were disclosed in the reviewed material.
- Evidence & follow-through0/3
- No independent labor audit results, worker-level corroboration, or remediation outcomes were disclosed in the reviewed material.
No Moonshot defense contract or military deployment is identified in the reviewed company and model sources.
See the evidence
Moonshot’s reviewed Kimi terms, company disclosures and model repository do not name a defense customer, contract or deployment. Third-party availability of its models doesn’t show Moonshot’s own military relationship; the public material reviewed does not supply a customer-complete accounting.
7 base + 0 safeguard adjustment = 7/10 (0 of 9 safeguard points; every 3 adds 1). No military relationship was established in the cited sources. This ranks above known defense ties without claiming a verified clean record.
Complete contract texts, undisclosed customers, end-use restrictions, actual workload deployment, and independent compliance or outcome reports are unavailable in the reviewed public material.
- Use restrictions0/4
- The reviewed terms or policy material contains no qualifying military-use restriction beyond general lawfulness/export compliance; this zero is limited to the reviewed source set.
- Enforcement & oversight0/3
- No military-specific review, enforcement, or remedy mechanism was disclosed in the sources reviewed.
- Relationship disclosure0/2
- No military-specific relationship or military-specific transparency policy was disclosed in the materials reviewed; this is a scoped disclosure finding.
The reviewed Kimi platform terms and Moonshot model materials do not identify a defense contract or military deployment. Model availability through third parties or permissive downstream deployment doesn’t confirm Moonshot’s own government or military customer relationship.
Military rubric ↗Moonshot AI is not named in the two official BNC campaign lists checked. This is a limited list check, not BDS approval.
See the evidence
The official BNC consumer boycott/pressure guide and No Tech campaign page do not name Moonshot AI among their current targets. BDS uses selective campaigns, so absence from these lists is neutral and should not be read as a clean record or approval.
This check covers only named targets in the two cited BNC campaigns; it does not cover all BDS campaigns, local groups, investments, suppliers, or downstream hosts. Lists and ownership may change.