Runway to open offices in London, Tokyo and Paris and invest nearly $300 million

Runway, one of the leaders in AI-generated video, has announced a global expansion. The company is opening new offices in London, Tokyo and Paris and plans to invest nearly 300 million dollars in its business and research over the next several years.

Where Runway is opening new offices

Co-founder and CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela outlined the plans in an interview with host Ed Ludlow on Bloomberg Tech. Beyond its San Francisco headquarters, Runway is building hubs in London, Tokyo and Paris, three cities with strong media, advertising and film industries.

• Runway will open new offices in London, Tokyo and Paris
• The company will put nearly $300 million into global expansion and AI research over the next several years
• Runway co-founder and CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela announced the plans
• The interview aired on Bloomberg Tech with host Ed Ludlow

Why Runway is entering new markets

Runway was one of the companies that pioneered generative video. Directors, ad agencies and studios use its Gen family of models to create and edit footage from text and visual prompts. In recent years, the AI video market has grown significantly and become more competitive. Runway now faces models from major tech labs, including OpenAI's Sora and Google's Veo, as well as specialized startups such as Pika and Luma AI and Chinese developers like Kuaishou with its Kling model.

With offices in London, Tokyo and Paris, Runway wants to get closer to local film, advertising and fashion industries and to recruit research and engineering talent outside the US. The strategy is typical for AI companies in the scaling phase: local teams let them adapt products to regional customers faster and compete for talent in several markets at once, not just in Silicon Valley.

Ad agencies and media companies are increasingly piloting text-to-video tools for creative production. For them, local offices and support teams in key creative capitals like London, Tokyo and Paris make it easier to bring these tools into real production workflows, not just experimental projects.

What it means

Runway's global expansion, backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, shows that AI-generated video is moving from experimentation to scale, with international offices, local teams and competition for creative markets worldwide. For other players, including smaller startups, it's another signal: the competition for customers and talent in AI video is moving beyond the US faster and becoming truly global.

Frequently asked questions

How much will Runway spend on its global expansion?

The company plans to invest nearly $300 million in its business and AI research over the next several years.

Which cities will get new Runway offices?

The company's new hubs will be in London, Tokyo and Paris, in addition to its San Francisco headquarters.