What does a jump from 63 to 668 models on OpenRouter actually trigger for the worker on the ground, besides more choices?
We need to understand the operational action this tracking enables; simply documenting growth doesn't prevent poor models from slowing down workflows or introducing security risks.
Without clear quality controls and performance metrics, this expanded list is just noise, not a useful dataset, like having 600 unvetted contractors for a single job.
We need a watchlist item for models that actually deliver, proving their value through verifiable standards, not just a higher count on a ticker.