#0412
AI Gateways Turn Model Choice Into Infrastructure
50radar
Routing is becoming its own layer above model APIs. OpenRouter scale shows provider lock-in is weakening, but this is more strategy signal than immediate tooling change.
OpenRouterhandles 20T+ tokens per week; no single provider owns over 23% of volume, so demand is already multi-model.- Gateways add switching, routing, and caching above APIs. The moat shifts from model access to traffic control and cache hit rate.
- Vertical gateways are the practical angle: wrappers for coding, support, agents, or media can optimize cost and reliability per workflow.
- Hyperscaler bundling is the counter-pressure. Standalone gateway margins get squeezed if cloud platforms bundle routing into existing infra.
Source: trends.vc/ai-gateways-cache-as-moat-vertical-gateways-hyRead original →