Stripe Acquires OpenRouter Amid AI Expansion
Stripe has confirmed its acquisition of OpenRouter, a startup that routes prompts between different AI models. While Stripe did not disclose the deal price, sources indicate it paid $7.5 billion — significantly higher than OpenRouter’s May valuation of $1.3 billion. The founders are expected to receive $1.5 billion from the sale, while investors will get the remaining $6 billion. Stripe outbid competitors like Databricks for the deal and cited AI-driven economic growth as a key motivation. In an internal letter, Stripe’s co-founders humorously referenced “the singularity” — not in a literal sense but to highlight the transformative impact of AI on business and technology. The acquisition aligns with Stripe's strategy to expand into token expense management within the growing AI sector. Analysts suggest that this move positions Stripe at the center of capital flows in the AI era, giving it influence over how developers use various models and potentially allowing control over suppliers like major AI labs and cloud providers.
Tickers: $DBX
Topics: AI OpenRouter payments startups Stripe