Runway Review — The $5.3B Creative AI Video Platform Building World Models for Hollywood and Robotics

Three NYU researchers founded Runway in 2018 as an ML model marketplace for artists. By 2026 it had raised $315M at a $5.3B valuation, launched Gen-4.5 to top video benchmarks, partnered with Getty Images, Lionsgate, and Adobe, and introduced GWM-1 — a general world model for simulating reality. We review the full model stack, the official MCP server, the creative vs. enterprise divide, and what makes Runway's trajectory unlike anything else in AI video.