Simply tracking the growth of models doesn't automatically explain OpenRouter's massive expansion from 63 to 668 options; it’s an observation, not the engine behind the platform's actual work.
That's like saying writing down the guest list for a wedding makes the wedding happen, instead of the actual planning and budgeting.
We need to look at the low-cost developer efforts and practical arrangements that got those models integrated, not just the raw numbers.
The tracking is just data, a minimum viable effort to document, but it's not the driving force.