Great product, been using it for a while. Turns out even a proxy can be worth $8bn with the right business model behind it. Users get an array of providers competing behind a single API, meaning they have to compete on price and quality not vendor lock-in. This encourages users to join OpenRouter over specific model vendors. Providers get easy access to revenue (and data) and new customers with little to no ad spendi…
Someone noted they pass through 100 billion annually if I remember correctly, but they also take a 5.5% cut, so Stripe secures them as a “customer” while getting their money back over time. It also to me feels like an adjacent business aligned with sort of what Stripe already does to begin with, being someone elses middle man.