Stripe will reportedly acquire AI gateway startup OpenRouter for $7B+¶

TechCrunch · 2026-08-17

Stripe has finalized a deal to acquire OpenRouter,according to a new report in Bloomberg.

OpenRouter helps customers to select different AI models to perform different tasks, depending on their specific needs and budget. The company announced in May that it hadraised a $113 million Series B, at a reported $1.3 billion valuation. (Investors include Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures, and Alphabet’s Capital G.)

At the time, OpenRouter CEO Alex Atallahdescribed the companyas the equivalent of Stripe for AI, because it provides customers with a single access point for different systems and prevents lock-in. The startup also claimed to have 8 million global users and to provide access to more than 400 models.

The Wall Street Journalreported last monththat Stripe and OpenRouter were in acquisition talks. Now, Bloomberg said those discussions have led to a deal price of more than $7 billion.

A Stripe spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company does not comment on rumors or speculation.

Topics

Scale faster. Grow your portfolio. Gain practical expertise. No matter your goal, Disrupt can empower you.Save up to $300 today!

Newsletters¶

Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news

AIWhy people aren’t buying Mark Zuckerberg’s AI futureAnthony Ha9 hours ago

Why people aren’t buying Mark Zuckerberg’s AI future¶

Anthony Ha
AIAnthropic CEO says AI backlash is ‘fundamentally a crisis of trust’Anthony Ha13 hours ago

Anthropic CEO says AI backlash is ‘fundamentally a crisis of trust’¶

Anthony Ha
AIAnthropic shares more details about how Claude’s new watermarks will workAnthony Ha1 day ago

Anthropic shares more details about how Claude’s new watermarks will work¶

Anthony Ha

Latest in AI¶

In BriefStripe will reportedly acquire AI gateway startup OpenRouter for $7B+Anthony Ha9 hours ago