Stripe: $7 Billion OpenRouter Deal Reshapes AI

Stripe struck a $7 billion deal for OpenRouter, locking in routing infrastructure that powers dozens of frontier AI models. The move follows twelve months of aggressive vertical integration by payment giants seeking direct exposure to inference spend. Analysts tracking the AI industry impact note that OpenRouter’s network already handles over 40 percent of third-party model calls, giving Stripe immediate scale in a market previously fragmented across startups.