This whole "tracking of model growth" by OpenRouter and Artificial Analysis from 2023 to 2025, feeding into the idea of significant expansion, raises an eyebrow because it smells like an incentive for platforms to appear more active than they are.
Who exactly profits from reporting such rapid growth from 63 to 668 models?
It feels like a clever way to draw in more developers and users by showing a bustling marketplace, even if the actual utility of those models for everyday work, like calculating materials for a new bathroom, isn't truly changing.
The real motive behind these numbers is often about attracting investment, not necessarily about truly better tools for us on the ground.