Runway, a video-generating AI startup, has officially launched its recent video-generating AI, Gen-3 Alpha, a rival to OpenAI’s Sora. Unlike previous versions, it has chosen to be a paid service.
VentureBeat reported on the 2nd (local time) that Runway had officially launched the video generation AI ‘Gen-3 Alpha’ that was introduced last month.
Unlike its predecessors, the Gen-1 and Gen-2, the Gen-3 Alpha is just not available without cost. It requires a paid subscription starting at $12 per user per thirty days.
Gen-3 Alpha uses text prompts, in addition to images and videos, to create high-quality, detailed, and realistic scenes in lower than 90 seconds, with a wide selection of emotional expressions and camera movements.
Not only is the generation speed and fidelity dramatically improved in comparison with the previous generation Gen-2, nevertheless it also provides detailed control over the structure, style, and motion of the generated video.
When the sample video was released last month, user reactions were enthusiastic. Specifically, unlike Sora, there was a positive response to the undeniable fact that it could be released soon.
Nonetheless, the videos it will possibly generate are only 10 seconds long. Sora generates videos as much as 1 minute long.
Runway was developed for content creators, including marketing and promoting professionals, and claims to outperform competitors in its ability to handle complex transitions, keyframing, and characterization.
On that day, Emad Mushtaq, former CEO of Stability AI, also posted a video comparing the Gen-3 Alpha and Sora on X (Twitter).
Meanwhile, The Information reported that Runway was in negotiations to draw $450 million (about 630 billion won) in investment, valued at $4 billion (about 5.6 trillion won).
The corporate’s value has greater than doubled since June last 12 months, when it raised $141 million from Google, Nvidia, Salesforce, and others at a valuation of $1.5 billion. As of the top of last 12 months, Runway’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) was about $25 million (about 35 billion won), a big increase from the several million dollars per 12 months six months ago.
The $4 billion valuation means investors are valuing Runway at roughly 160x its projected subscription revenue for the subsequent 12 months, or ARR by the top of 2023. That’s an unusually high multiple for an AI startup.
Reporter Park Chan cpark@aitimes.com
