Runway

basicspreading

Runway is an American company and online service that uses artificial intelligence to create and edit short videos from text descriptions, images, or existing footage.

In plain terms

Runway is a browser-based video workshop. You describe what you want to see, for example "a fox runs through a snowy forest, slow motion", and the system creates a few seconds of moving image from it. No camera, crew, or location is needed.

It is like renting a very fast trick studio. You do not draw the frames yourself; instead, you give directorial instructions, and the machine shows you a variation. If you do not like it, you refine the request and ask for a new one.

It does not just create video from nothing. It can animate a still image and transform existing footage: replacing the background, removing an object, or transferring the scene to another style.

What mainly distinguishes it from other video generators is that it was created for creators from the start and now primarily targets film and creative professionals. Therefore, it includes many editing and control tools, such as camera movement control or maintaining the same character across multiple scenes.

How it works

Runway's models learned on countless videos and images how things look and move: how water ripples, how a person steps, and how light changes.
You provide the starting point: a text instruction (prompt), an image, an existing video, or a combination of these.
Simplified, the model starts from random noise and step by step 'cleans out' the frames so they fit your description and each other. This is called the diffusion process.
The result is a few-second clip. You can extend it, regenerate it, or further shape it in the built-in editor.
The computation runs on the company's servers, not on your machine. Therefore, you pay for it via subscription and credits: in most packages, every generated second consumes credits.

An everyday example

As the owner of a small café, you want an advertisement for your social media but have no money for filming. You upload a photo of a steaming cappuccino, ask Runway to slowly zoom in on it, and a few minutes later you have a short, moving ad clip.

Who is affected

marketerWithout filming, you can quickly and cheaply create ad clips, visual concepts, and social media content with it. → Marketing

entrepreneur, executiveEven a small budget can get you video material, but you are responsible for copyright and authenticity issues.

employeeIf you work as an editor, animator or VFX artist, part of your job is changing, and knowing such tools is increasingly expected. → Work & HR

everyoneYou are increasingly encountering videos online that were not filmed with a camera, so it is worth viewing what you see more critically.

A common misconception

MythRunway creates a film with a single click, without a director or editor.

In realityIt delivers short, few-second scenes, from which usable material is created through many attempts, selection, and post-production. The story, taste, and decisions still need to be added by a human.

Limits and risks

Clips are short, and in longer scenes, characters' faces, clothing, or object details may change mid-sequence.
Physics and fine details are often flawed: strange hand gestures, unreadable text, unnatural movement.
The company has not disclosed exactly on which videos the models were trained. This has led to copyright disputes, and it is a defendant in a lawsuit initiated by creators. Check the terms of use before commercial deployment.
Realistic fake videos can be used for deception. Additionally, generation is credit-based, so many attempts quickly increase costs.

Similar, but not the same

Sora – Sora is OpenAI's video generation model. Runway is an independent company developing its own models and building an editing interface around them.
Deepfake – A deepfake falsifies a real person's face or voice in a deceptive way. Runway is a general creative tool with which fictional scenes are typically created, although it can also be misused.
Video editing software – Traditional editing software arranges already recorded footage, while Runway also generates new frames that no one ever filmed.

Related concepts

Broader

Generative AI, Video generation, Generative media

Narrower

Text-to-video, Image to video, Video-to-video

On the edge

Sora, Diffusion model, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, Deepfake

A brief history

Runway was founded in New York in 2018 by Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alejandro Matamala, and Anastasis Germanidis. Initially, it was a platform where creators could experiment with machine learning models without programming. One of the company's researchers was a co-author of the research underlying Stable Diffusion, and Runway published version 1.5 of the model, released in October 2022. In 2023, they introduced their first video-generation models, Gen-1 and Gen-2. In 2024, Gen-3 Alpha followed, and in 2025, Gen-4 and its improved variants.

Where things stand

At the end of 2026, Runway is a leading player in video generation. Advertising agencies, content creators, and film studios use it, mainly for short scenes, previsualization, and effects. It does not yet replace full films. It faces strong competition from similar models by major tech companies and other video startups.

Status: 2026 November

In the news

Appears in 2 Agent Age stories; the curve shows weekly occurrence in the news magazine.

AI creative platforms move into agency territory: Runway's push into advertisingOct 21, 2026 · Marketing
Runway's AI video agent creates and measures ads across platformsSep 30, 2026 · Marketing

Also known as

Runway · Runway ML · RunwayML · Runway AI · Runway Gen-3 · Runway Gen-4 · Runway video generator

Sources

This entry was machine-edited and has undergone machine expert review; the “In the news” section updates automatically from Agent Age stories.