Stripe to Buy AI Model-Routing Startup OpenRouter for More Than $7 Billion

Stripe has agreed to buy OpenRouter, an AI model-routing startup, for more than $7 billion, according to reports. The deal would give Stripe a bigger role in the fast-growing market for software that helps developers switch between different artificial intelligence models, expanding beyond its core payments business. OpenRouter is used by developers to access hundreds of AI models through a single interface, so the acquisition could help Stripe tie together AI usage, billing, and payment infrastructure. The move underscores how major financial and technology companies are racing to control the tools that power AI products and the transactions around them.