Nvidia-backed AI company tells CNBC its launching major UK expansion
According to information obtained by CNBC, American artificial intelligence company Runway is planning a major expansion in London. In the wake of Anthropic and OpenAI, US tech companies are increasingly looking to capitalize on business and talent opportunities in the city.
Runway, which builds world models, told CNBC exclusively on Monday that the company plans to make London its new European headquarters and will invest more than $200 million in the UK’s AI ecosystem by the end of 2028.
The company most recently raised $315 million in a Series E round involving General Atlantic. AMD Initiatives and Nvidiain conclusion Valuation is $5.3 billion.
“London brings us closer to many of our largest European clients who already do significant work with Runway, including the BBC, Fremantle and WPP, and strengthens the research team we already have here,” Runway co-founder and CEO Anastasis Germanidis told CNBC.
“The talent pool is phenomenal and London felt like the right place to start,” he added. “We hope to expand further across Europe in the near future.”
Runway’s co-founders: Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alejandro Matamala Ortiz and Anastasis Germanidis. Credit: runway
World models are artificial intelligence systems that can learn from inputs such as audio, images, video, and real-world data, compared to large language models (LLMs), which are designed primarily to understand and create language rather than modeling the physical world from real-world sensory inputs.
In addition to creating these models, Runway also offers a number of video creation and editing tools.
“Runway’s new London headquarters will bring pioneering research into world models to the UK and help power breakthroughs across industries from film and gaming to science and robotics,” UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said in a statement. “We want the world’s most ambitious AI companies to build their futures here, and that’s exactly what Runway is doing.”
Runway is one of several US AI companies that recently announced major growth plans for their London footprint.
In April, Anthropic said it was expanding its presence in London with new office space for 800 people, just days after rival OpenAI announced plans for its first permanent office in the UK capital. Google it also plans to move its employees to its new headquarters in the United Kingdom this summer.
