Startup Runway, which participated in the development of Stable Diffusion (AI image generator) introduced its new product – the Gen-2 system. The company's specialists endowed it with the ability to transform short text into a 3-second video. What distinguishes it from its predecessor, Stable Diffusion, is the lack of open-source code. Representatives of Runway explained this by concern for security and some business nuances. The first to try Gen-2 will be the users of the Discord platform who have signed up for the waiting list. They will have access to the new system in the next 3–4 weeks.
Turning text into video using AI is not an innovation. At the end of 2022, the two largest corporations, Google and Meta Platforms, presented their research on AI models that have the ability to generate video based on given text. The Gen-2 difference lies in the system's accessibility to users.
Cristóbal Valenzuela, co-founder and CEO of Runway, noted that their product will primarily be of interest to those who work in the film industry and are involved in the creative industry. Specialists expect Gen-2 to be a major technological breakthrough in the field of AI and will give new opportunities to video content creators.