Stripe acquires AI model gateway OpenRouter for $7 billion

Stripe has finalized the acquisition of OpenRouter, an AI model gateway startup, for over $7 billion, according to Bloomberg. OpenRouter, founded in 2023 and based in New York, assists developers in selecting and switching between AI models, giving them access to more than 400 models. The startup raised more than $150 million in total capital, with investors including Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures, and CapitalG, one of Alphabet's venture arms.

OpenRouter serves 8 million developers and offers backup access in case a primary model fails. CEO Alex Atallah has compared his company to Stripe, stating that OpenRouter plays a similar role in AI as Stripe does in payments, by providing a common layer that spans multiple underlying systems and avoiding vendor lock-in. OpenRouter's expansion is mainly driven by developers working on agentic software applications, a segment that demands infrastructure spanning multiple providers and data sources.

The acquisition comes at a time when businesses are under pressure to manage AI costs, as Chinese AI companies flood the market with cheaper models. The final acquisition price may still change.