Stripe told investors on Wednesday that it believes the technological singularity began on January 1, 2026, around eight months ago, and said it has been operating with that assumption ever since. The payments company also confirmed on the same day that it was acquiring OpenRouter. The singularity generally refers to a point at which artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence and gains the ability to improve itself without direct human intervention.
In a letter obtained by Axios and now circulating widely online, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, president John Collison, and president of technology and business William Gaybrick said the company had observed a significant shift in long-term trends that convinced them the singularity had arrived. They stressed that the development should be taken seriously and that businesses need to adjust accordingly.
According to the executives, Stripe is now focused on two primary objectives: accelerating AI adoption throughout the economy and making sure AI deployment gives individuals greater control over their economic lives.
“It's a fuzzy and perhaps already overworked term, but we decided that January 1st marked the beginning of the singularity, and we have since been operating on that basis,” the executives wrote. They explained that while the singularity is often associated with predictions of dramatic future transformations, Stripe reached its conclusion after observing a major change in long-term trends, including a substantial rise in the pace of new company creation.
The statement makes Stripe’s leadership the latest group of major technology executives to declare that the singularity has already begun. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in July that “we're in the singularity” and described the development as something he had anticipated throughout his life, predicting that it would be hugely positive for the world. Tesla CEO Elon Musk had similarly declared in January that humanity had entered the singularity.
Stripe said the singularity appears to be contributing to the acceleration of its core business. The company reported that its revenue during the first half of the fiscal year increased 41 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.
The letter also highlighted the advantages Stripe sees in remaining a private company during this period of rapid technological change. “Stripe is, of course, a private company today. We view this as a growing advantage as we venture into the vicissitudes of the singularity,” the executives wrote. They added that the world is becoming increasingly difficult to predict and that companies will need strong leadership to navigate the changes, while Stripe’s corporate structure gives it greater flexibility to pursue long-term strategies.
Stripe also said that 88 per cent of the companies featured on the Forbes AI 50 use its products. The list includes major AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
On Wednesday, Stripe confirmed its acquisition of OpenRouter, though it did not reveal the financial details of the transaction. Reports have suggested that the deal could be worth around $7.5 billion, significantly above OpenRouter’s $1.3 billion valuation from May. According to those reports, OpenRouter founders Alex Atallah, Chris Clark and Louis Vichy could receive approximately $1.5 billion from the sale, while investors would receive the remaining $6 billion.
