[FLASH] Stripe agrees to buy model-routing gateway OpenRouter for more than $7bn
Stripe finalised a deal to acquire OpenRouter, the routing layer offering a single access point to more than 400 models and claiming around 8 million users, for over $7bn. The price is roughly 5.4x the $1.3bn valuation set at OpenRouter's $113m Series B only three months earlier in May 2026, and follows WSJ reporting of talks last month. The notable feature is the buyer: a payments company, not a cloud or model lab, taking the toll position in front of inference spend regardless of which model wins on capability.