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Who's behind the new ‘stealth model’ Ox Alpha?

SpeculationModelAug 23, 2026

An anonymous AI model called Ox Alpha launched free on OpenRouter on Thursday, listed as a "stealth model" developed by an unnamed third-party provider. Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, whose company is acquiring OpenRouter, called it "very impressive" on X. Speculation about its origins has split between Z.ai's GLM models and Microsoft's MAI, with Wccftech revising its initial GLM theory and Reddit users divided, while analyst Andrew Curran notes confidence in any answer has declined.

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Evidence

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Citation chain · 1 source

MicrosoftCompanyRedditCompanyTechCrunchCompanyZ.aiCompanyOpenRouterCompanyGLMModelStripeCompanyWccftechCompanyOx AlphaModelMAIModelPatrick CollisonPersonAndrew CurranPerson
Canonical: https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/23/whos-behind-the-new-stealth-model-ox-alpha/