Stripe acquires AI model router OpenRouter for over $8 billion

Published Aug 17, 05:45 PM UTC

Stripe has agreed to acquire OpenRouter, an AI model routing marketplace, for more than $8 billion in cash and stock, marking one of the largest AI infrastructure acquisitions. OpenRouter provides a neutral routing layer with one API to access over 400 AI models, claiming 8-10 million developers and trillions of tokens routed weekly. The company had raised $164 million, most recently at a $1.3 billion valuation in May 2026. OpenRouter has used Stripe for billing since January 2026. CEO Alex Atallah, co-founder of OpenSea, described OpenRouter as 'the equivalent of Stripe for AI.' Stripe also operates the stablecoin blockchain Tempo and the Machine Payments Protocol for autonomous AI agent payments, making this acquisition a strategic integration of model traffic into Stripe's payment infrastructure.