Stripe Strikes $7 Billion-Plus Deal to Buy AI Startup OpenRouter
What's new: The startup was valued at about $1.3 billion just months ago and says 8 million developers use its model-switching platform.
Stripe has reached an agreement to acquire OpenRouter for more than $7 billion, a deal that would push the payments company deeper into artificial intelligence infrastructure. OpenRouter, founded in 2023 and based in New York, helps developers route work across hundreds of AI models to compare cost, performance and reliability. In May, the company said it served 8 million developers and offered access to more than 400 models. The startup has raised more than $150 million from investors including CapitalG, Andreessen Horowitz and Menlo Ventures. The Wall Street Journal had reported earlier talks at about a $10 billion price. OpenRouter CEO Alex Atallah previously co-founded OpenSea.