Previously: Stripe will reportedly acquire OpenRouter for $7B+ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49323381
Discussion Highlights (19 comments)
sidcool
Good for OpenRouter. They have a great DevEx. The $7 billion is tad high, but Stripe can afford it.
gavino
Could someone explain why these routers are so valuable and pulling acquisitions in the billions?
sparkling
Middleman company buying middleman company. Makes sense.
itsdesmond
> Today, we are excited to announce that we are joining forces with Stripe, to power the next wave of GDP growth globally. This is some high level meaningless corpo speak.
wxw
> And as we grow, we will relentlessly aim to preserve the velocity, agility, efficiency, and talent density of the 90-person startup that we are today. Echoes of WhatsApp. Huge congrats to the team!
srameshc
It is amazing how we watch from the sidelines these aquisitions and think .... why such big bill ? But it takes a good team to sell and everytime someone is successful it is because probably they have great sellers who believe in their value and demand a price. It is certainly not an easy task to get to the finish line for a startup and pay back their investors.
yipinwong
Shut up and take my money (via Stripe)!
6thbit
This has to be all about cashflow, right? Surely stripe if anyone have learned to harness the cash flowing through their system. Hell, they could be emitting bonds on expected token consumption bills!
drob518
Hm. This seems random. Other than the fact that they are both technology companies, is there anything else that they have in common?
WhereIsTheTruth
Fees will magically appear between agents where they don't need to be What could go wrong
dwa3592
I guess this makes sense for the scenario when we will use machine intelligence as a currency, maybe 15-20 years from now? - like I can pay 15 minutes of inference for a dozen bananas? and the banana seller uses those 15 minutes to do banana shelling or removing weeds from their farms or whatever i guess when robots are doing everything. right??
rvz
This is before Stripe completing their acquisition of PayPal (which will happen). [0] Maybe there is some plan to pump Stripe's valuation to over $1TN before an IPO. Who knows. [0] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/stripe-advent-offer...
shmde
> Today, we are excited to announce that we are... Why do they always start with this. Every single one of them. You dont even want to read anything after that. Its the same "Blah blah nothing will change you will get the best of both worlds blah blah"
I've seen three or four others building routers. How hard is that really? The folk I spoke to needed only a few millions to build it (they claim). I've seen prototype of some too that looked pretty simple. Maybe the whole thing is driven by enterprise wanting the external vendor support?
marcsnid
I'm not happy about this. Having used OpenRouter a lot and enjoying the experience, I need to say that corporate consolidation is never good for consumers.
zurfer
Woah now also a 75perc discount on OpenRouter for flash 3.7. Is it really the same product (speed? and up time)? Why would Google do that?
swiftlyTyped
Amazing. Huge congrats to the Open Router team
TechSquidTV
7 million would sound fair to me. 7 billion? Explain yourself.
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Discussion Highlights (19 comments)
sidcool
Good for OpenRouter. They have a great DevEx. The $7 billion is tad high, but Stripe can afford it.
gavino
Could someone explain why these routers are so valuable and pulling acquisitions in the billions?
sparkling
Middleman company buying middleman company. Makes sense.
itsdesmond
> Today, we are excited to announce that we are joining forces with Stripe, to power the next wave of GDP growth globally. This is some high level meaningless corpo speak.
wxw
> And as we grow, we will relentlessly aim to preserve the velocity, agility, efficiency, and talent density of the 90-person startup that we are today. Echoes of WhatsApp. Huge congrats to the team!
srameshc
It is amazing how we watch from the sidelines these aquisitions and think .... why such big bill ? But it takes a good team to sell and everytime someone is successful it is because probably they have great sellers who believe in their value and demand a price. It is certainly not an easy task to get to the finish line for a startup and pay back their investors.
yipinwong
Shut up and take my money (via Stripe)!
6thbit
This has to be all about cashflow, right? Surely stripe if anyone have learned to harness the cash flowing through their system. Hell, they could be emitting bonds on expected token consumption bills!
drob518
Hm. This seems random. Other than the fact that they are both technology companies, is there anything else that they have in common?
WhereIsTheTruth
Fees will magically appear between agents where they don't need to be What could go wrong
dwa3592
I guess this makes sense for the scenario when we will use machine intelligence as a currency, maybe 15-20 years from now? - like I can pay 15 minutes of inference for a dozen bananas? and the banana seller uses those 15 minutes to do banana shelling or removing weeds from their farms or whatever i guess when robots are doing everything. right??
rvz
This is before Stripe completing their acquisition of PayPal (which will happen). [0] Maybe there is some plan to pump Stripe's valuation to over $1TN before an IPO. Who knows. [0] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/stripe-advent-offer...
shmde
> Today, we are excited to announce that we are... Why do they always start with this. Every single one of them. You dont even want to read anything after that. Its the same "Blah blah nothing will change you will get the best of both worlds blah blah"
ChrisArchitect
Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49323381
edoceo
I've seen three or four others building routers. How hard is that really? The folk I spoke to needed only a few millions to build it (they claim). I've seen prototype of some too that looked pretty simple. Maybe the whole thing is driven by enterprise wanting the external vendor support?
marcsnid
I'm not happy about this. Having used OpenRouter a lot and enjoying the experience, I need to say that corporate consolidation is never good for consumers.
zurfer
Woah now also a 75perc discount on OpenRouter for flash 3.7. Is it really the same product (speed? and up time)? Why would Google do that?
swiftlyTyped
Amazing. Huge congrats to the Open Router team
TechSquidTV
7 million would sound fair to me. 7 billion? Explain yourself.