WTF?! With the advent of AI, there's been a lot of talk about the singularity, which, in the context of technology, is a point in time when artificial intelligence becomes smarter than humans, resulting in changes so rapid we can't predict or control them. According to Stripe, the singularity actually occurred eight months ago, though given that we're not currently worshiping our machine overlords, it's presumably using another definition of the term.
Stripe told investors on Wednesday that January 1, 2026, was an important day as it marked the "beginning of the singularity." That's not the sort of claim you'd expect a company to make, especially a digital payments processor.
"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," Stripe wrote in a letter that was obtained by Axios.
Stripe's definition of the singularity apparently refers to a major inflection point in long-term trends, something it says is evidenced by "a huge increase in the rate of new firm creation."
Stripe added that there is "no ceiling on the size of the global economy" and that it envisions a "quadrillion-dollar world" and plans "to enumerate the relevant bottlenecks to bringing it about." So, this singularity is all about money.
It's not just Stripe that believes we are now living in a singularity. OpenAI's Sam Altman said the same thing last month. It's a more worrying statement from the CEO of the world's biggest AI company, especially as it came just days after its agents went rogue, prompting a slowdown of AI development.
Stripe's letter to investors was related to the company's agreement to acquire OpenRouter. The exact price was not disclosed, though one report put it at $7.5 billion and others at more than $8 billion. OpenRouter is essentially a marketplace and switching service for AI models.
Stripe already sells Token Billing, allowing AI businesses to charge customers based on model usage, while 88% of the Forbes AI 50 reportedly use its platform.
Stripe used the claimed inflection point to argue that it should remain private, allowing it to fund acquisitions and long-term investments without diluting investors. With first-half revenue up 41% and free cash flow rising 43%, the singularity appears to be treating it well.