Stripe is eyeing a massive $7 billion acquisition of AI gateway startup OpenRouter. By integrating this "AI routing" layer, Stripe aims to dominate how developers purchase, meter, and manage AI workloads across hundreds of models.

This strategic move eliminates vendor lock-in, turning fragmented AI infrastructure into a unified, seamless financial ecosystem. The future of AI billing just got a major upgrade.

This strategic move eliminates vendor lock-in, turning fragmented AI infrastructure into a unified, seamless financial ecosystem. The future of AI billing just got a major upgrade.