Payments firm Stripe to buy marketplace OpenRouter in AI push

By Aditya Soni and Arasu ‌Kannagi Basil

Aug 19 (Reuters) - ​Payments ​firm Stripe said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy OpenRouter, which helps businesses route and optimize token usage, its latest bet on ‌the fast-growing AI industry.

While the companies did not disclose the value ⁠of the deal, a source familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential information, told ‌Reuters it was worth slightly ‌more than $8 billion.

The deal comes as soaring bills drive companies toward cheaper models and routing tools like OpenRouter, and deepens a year-long push by the fintech ​into AI. The push has included launching products like token billing to track AI model consumption.

AI marketplace platforms like OpenRouter allow developers to send queries to ⁠dozens of AI models through a single interface, making them a popular testing ground for new systems.

"Tokens are ​the central currency for companies building with AI, and it's clear that the real-world economic potential will depend on making good use ​of scarce compute resources," Stripe CEO Patrick Collison ‌said.

Stripe declined to comment on the purchase price, while OpenRouter did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

OpenRouter, which was ⁠founded in 2023, processes more than 10 trillion tokens per day from more than 400 AI models for a community of over 10 million developers and companies.

A Deloitte report in ⁠March found that most surveyed companies with annual revenue of at least $500 million expect to consume ​more than 10 billion tokens per month by 2028.

OpenRouter has raised capital from heavyweights such as Menlo Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. In May, the firm raised $113 million in a funding round led ‌by Alphabet’s independent growth fund CapitalG.

Stripe, which was valued at $159 billion in a tender offer earlier this year, has made a ‌joint offer with private equity firm Advent International to buy PayPal for more than $53 ⁠billion, Reuters reported last month.

Businesses running ‌on Stripe generated $1.9 trillion in ​total volume last year, a 34% jump from 2024.

(Reporting by Aditya Soni, Arasu Kannagi Basil and Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by ‌Vijay Kishore)

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• US tells schools not to alter discipline policies to reduce racial disparities
• Analysis-China tax crackdown forces wealthy investors to assess their offshore trusts
• US FTC considers requiring disclosure of personalized pricing