clem 🤗#109
Open-weight models have overtaken closed models on OpenRouter.
69.1% of token volume now goes to open-weight models. 30.9% to closed.
Competition is a discovery procedure — and developers are discovering the value of open models.
🧵
Users are excited that open-weight models have overtaken closed models on OpenRouter with 69% token share because this shows open models are now the dominant choice at the API frontier.
Open model demand jumps every time a new model launches.
Each release attracts developers & testing. Token use surges. Then sustains a plateau.
The flight to open models is real.
[hero image]
Open model leadership keeps changing hands.
DeepSeek's early lead → MiniMax & Kimi in late 2025 → then reshuffled by Alibaba, Tencent, Hy3, Qwen, DeepSeek.
Competition is fierce & iteration is fast.
[chart 1]
Open models are no longer a curiosity. They're the dominant choice at the API frontier.
If you're building on AI, you should pay attention.
https://tomtunguz.com/the-thriving-ecosystem-of-open-models/
US labs are showing up too.
Arcee, an American open-weight lab, made strong appearances on OpenRouter with their Trinity family.
Open models remain a fraction of overall inference. But the competition, usage, & experimentation matter.
[chart 2]
@ttunguz let's go!!
@ttunguz Your AI autopost needs tweaks, it's still including [hero image] and [chart 2] instead of the actual image 😉
Less sure OpenRouter is a good measure of open v closed. Closed use is often via direct subscription. I use OpenRouter when I don't trust the open model providers.
@ttunguz Multiple, non first party APIs with real fixed costs competing to provide price discovery and access to these models.
This is what made it easier for us to launch http://Anera.exchange with openweight models first.
We are the gateway for open models to meet finops buyers.
@ttunguz Cost is catching up
@ttunguz @ClementDelangue My weight is very much open.