Stripe Acquires OpenRouter for $7B as AI, Stablecoins and Crypto Payments Converge

TL;DR:

• Stripe agreed to acquire the routing platform OpenRouter for more than $7 billion, as reported by Bloomberg in August 2026.
• OpenRouter manages the workflow of approximately 8 million developers connected to over 400 artificial intelligence models through a single API key.
• The agreed amount is six times larger than the previous purchase of Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure firm acquired by Stripe for $1.1 billion.

Payment processing giant Stripe acquired OpenRouter after finalizing a deal valued at over $7 billion. With this move, technical AI model routing joins global billing and payment settlement infrastructure.

The deal comes three months after OpenRouter raised $113 million at a $1.3 billion valuation. Market reports indicate that estimates published by research firm Sacra placed the platform’s annualized revenue at nearly $50 million as of late March 2026.

The final figure reflects an adjustment from preliminary discussions. Reports published by The Wall Street Journal placed initial negotiations around $10 billion during the previous month.

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