Stripe in talks to acquire AI model marketplace OpenRouter for close to 10 billion dollars
Stripe is in talks to acquire AI model marketplace OpenRouter for close to $10 billion, per reporting citing people familiar with the matter. OpenRouter was valued at $1.3 billion in a funding round in May. The deal is not final. Stripe already processes OpenRouter's payments.
Stripe is in talks to acquire OpenRouter, the AI model marketplace that lets enterprises compare, access, and switch between hundreds of proprietary and open-weight AI models, in a deal that could value the startup at close to $10 billion, according to reporting citing people familiar with the matter. That figure marks a dramatic jump from OpenRouter's $1.3 billion valuation set during a funding round in May of this year. Stripe and OpenRouter already have an operational relationship, with OpenRouter relying on Stripe's platform to handle customer transactions. Negotiations remain fluid, reporting notes the talks could still dissolve or draw competing suitors before any deal is signed. A completed deal would rank among the largest AI infrastructure acquisitions of 2026 and would give Stripe, a payments company, direct control over a chokepoint in how enterprises access and pay for AI model usage across providers, a notable expansion beyond its core payments business into AI infrastructure.