Runway's world models used by studios, could aid drug discovery
Runway, an AI startup founded by three people who met at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, is making big moves with "world models," AI that learns from real-world data to simulate environments.
Their Gen-4.5 video model is already being used by studios like Lionsgate and AMC Networks for filmmaking.
But co-founder Anastasis Germanidis thinks the tech could go way beyond movies, helping out with things like drug discovery and climate modeling.
Runway posts $40 million new ARR
Since launching its first world model in December 2025, Runway has pulled in $40 million in new annual recurring revenue in the second quarter of 2026.
Even with competition from giants like Google's Genie model, co-CEO Cristobal Valenzuela says its edge comes from an innovative culture built outside Silicon Valley, and a focus on doing more with less instead of just spending big.