Stripe is reportedly acquiring AI startup OpenRouter for more than $7 billion

Stripe is reportedly acquiring the AI startup OpenRouter for more than $7 billion, according to Bloomberg. OpenRouter helps customers pick different AI models for various tasks based on their needs and budget, and the startup had just closed a Series B funding round of $113 million in May at a valuation of $1.3 billion. Investors include Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures, and Alphabet's Capital G.

OpenRouter CEO Alex Atallah had described his company as "Stripe for AI," since it offers a single point of access to various systems and prevents lock-in with individual providers. The startup has eight million users and provides access to more than 400 models.

Stripe could be the ideal buyer for OpenRouter, given that the company already handles massive volumes of latency-sensitive, high-availability requests and has built its entire business on abstracting away payment infrastructure. With this acquisition, Stripe is positioning itself for the token economy.

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