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Stripe Finalizes Agreement to Acquire OpenRouter for Over $7 Billion

Payment giant Stripe has finalized an agreement to acquire OpenRouter, an AI startup that allows developers to select and switch between various AI models. The administration announced the deal price to be over $7 billion, a significant premium over the company's $1.3 billion valuation just months ago. OpenRouter serves as a traffic intermediary, providing a single access point for over 400 models while abstracting the complexity of choosing the best provider for cost and speed. By acquiring OpenRouter, Stripe aims to monopolize the capital flow of intelligent consumption in the upcoming Agent era. The move complements Stripe's previous acquisition of Metronome, creating a commercial closed loop where OpenRouter handles model selection, Metronome manages usage-based billing, and Stripe manages the underlying payments. This strategic acquisition positions Stripe as a central hub for AI infrastructure, capturing the transaction flow of machines executing tasks in an AI-driven economy.

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