OpenRouter Secures $40 Million to Streamline AI Model Management

OpenRouter, a startup dedicated to simplifying AI model management for developers, has secured $40 million in venture capital funding. The company aims to serve as a comprehensive platform connecting various AI apps to multiple large language models (LLMs) and cloud service providers, automatically selecting the optimal model based on user needs like cost and performance. OpenRouter’s platform includes contributions from major AI players such as OpenAI and Meta, and leverages cloud technologies from Amazon and Microsoft. Following a $12.5 million seed round and a $28 million Series A round, OpenRouter is now valued at approximately $500 million. The platform operates on a credit system for AI inferences, which saw spending surge to $8 million in May, a tenfold increase since October. COO Chris Clark forecasts that AI inference costs will surpass salaries as the primary operating expense for knowledge-based companies within the next decade.

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