Stripe in talks to buy OpenRouter in $10bn deal - report

(Sharecast News) - Stripe is reportedly in talks to buy OpenRouter, a startup that helps developers choose between artificial-intelligence models. According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter, a deal could be announced soon, though the talks could still fall apart or another suitor could emerge. The exact price being discussed couldn't be learned, but some of the people said the business could fetch about $10bn in a sale.

A number of other big tech companies had been considering potential deals for OpenRouter, sources told the WSJ.

Founded in 2023, OpenRouter sells software that allows customers to easily access AI models built by OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as "open weight" alternatives that are free for anyone to download and run. The company lists hundreds of large language models on its platform, allowing developers and businesses to easily access, compare and switch between them.

The WSJ said a deal for OpenRouter could allow Stripe to seize upon a hot area of growth in the AI market. Many tech companies are looking to use a wide range of different AI models as a way to control spending and diversify away from OpenAI and Anthropic, it noted.

Stripe - whose valuation hit $159bn earlier this year - is mainly a payments processor, helping companies across the internet accept payments. However, it has recently tried to expand into new areas such as infrastructure for AI and stablecoin payments.

OpenRouter and Stripe also already have a partnership together, where OpenRouter uses Stripe to accept payments from its customers, among other things.