Runway 推出 Media Router，为生成式媒体自动选择最佳模型

Runway 不再希望只是另一家 AI 模型公司：https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/15/runway-started-by-helping-filmmakers-now-it-wants-to-beat-google-at-ai/。它希望成为生成媒体的基础设施层。

周四，这家初创公司通过其开发者平台 Runway Dev 推出了 Runway Media Router：https://runwayml.com/news/company-news/introducing-runway-dev。Runway Dev 本月早些时候发布，为用户提供对不断扩展的第三方图像、视频和音频模型以及 Runway 自身模型的 API 访问。

Media Router 是一款工具，可以根据开发者优先考虑质量、速度或成本的不同，自动选择最适合请求的图像、视频或音频生成模型。虽然模型路由器在大型语言模型领域变得越来越普遍，但 Runway 表示这是第一个专为生成媒体构建的路由器。

“路由功能确实契合了我们的总体承诺，即为开发者提供最简单的一站式平台，以集成任何类型的生成媒体模型。”Runway 首席产品官 Anthony Maggio 告诉 TechCrunch。

此次推出（独家与 TechCrunch 分享）标志着 Runway 从 AI 视频初创公司向生成媒体构建公司基础设施发展的又一步。通过 Runway Dev，包括 Adobe、Cloudflare、ElevenLabs、Expedia、Shutterstock 和 Quora 在内的客户可以直接通过 Runway 的 API 在自己的产品中构建媒体生成，而无需将用户引导至 Runway 自身的应用或网站。

随着生成媒体模型数量激增，评估新发布的模型变得越来越困难和耗时，路由器的推出应运而生。通过 Runway Dev 平台，开发者可以在新模型发布时立即访问最新的媒体模型。

“大多数开发者没有花时间真正了解每个模型的能力以及它们在视频、图像和音频等不同类型输出上的优势或差异。”Maggio 说，“我们带来的独特价值主张是围绕每种不同用例的最佳模型进行所有智能分析，并将其与您在业务背景下应用的偏好结合。”

Maggio 指出，中国的生成式媒体模型正变得越来越受欢迎。然而，许多自己构建产品的企业可能不愿意使用来自中国的模型，因此他说，他们可能会倾向于选择美国的模型提供商——随着特朗普政府探索针对中国开放式 AI 模型的禁令和制裁，这种偏好可能会变得更加普遍：https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/treasury-threatens-sanctions-after-white-house-claims-moonshot-distilled-anthropics-fable/。

不过，这只是开发者可以设置偏好的一个例子。Maggio 说，客户主要关注的是根据代币定价和质量来路由模型。随着那些全力投入自主 AI 的企业在高额代币账单中感受到压力，代币定价在 2026 年成为热门话题：https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/05/the-token-bill-comes-due-inside-the-industry-scramble-to-manage-ais-runaway-costs/。在大型语言模型的世界里，根据代币定价进行模型路由已变得很常见，因此为生成式媒体设置路由也顺理成章。Media Router 的发布也发生在 Runway 将其无限订阅计划替换为基于代币的定价几周之后，此举引发了一些用户的批评。

在质量方面，Maggio 说，对于生成式媒体来说，决定哪些模型在特定任务中提供最佳质量并不像语言模型那样容易。这就是路由器智能层发挥作用的地方。它基于 Runway 内部创意团队在评估各种媒体类型输出方面积累的专业知识——例如视频模型如何处理运动、图像模型如何处理构图或语音模型如何处理唇同步。

Runway 已经为其代理产品构建智能层做了大量工作，该代理产品是 Runway 于五月推出的对话式 AI 创意伙伴：https://runwayml.com/news/introducing-runway-agent，帮助将文本提示转化为完整编辑的多镜头视频和营销活动。

Maggio 说，Runway Media Router 将 Runway 为自己产品构建的同样路由技术打包，供外部开发者使用。

Runway今天的策略反映了当前生成型媒体生态的碎片化和竞争激烈程度，以及这家初创公司为了保持竞争力需要不断扩展和转型。Runway最后一次AI视频模型的发布——Gen 4.5——是在12月。当时，该模型在排行榜上名列前茅，表现优于类似模型：https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/01/runway-gen-4-5-video-model-google-open-ai.html，包括Google等现有巨头。在同一个月，Runway发布了其首个世界模型：https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/11/runway-releases-its-first-world-model-adds-native-audio-to-latest-video-model/。

除了在5月对其视频编辑模型Aleph 2.0进行升级外：https://runwayml.com/product/aleph-2，Runway几个月来没有发布新的专用前沿视频模型。（TechCrunch已询问该初创公司计划何时发布Gen 5。）目前，根据Artificial Analysis，虽然Aleph 2.0仍在领先的视频编辑模型中占据一席，但公司的文本到视频及图像到视频模型已不再排名前列。在前20名中，有来自Google、以及中国的字节跳动和阿里巴巴等重量级公司的模型。

Media Router并不要求开发者押注某一单模型始终领先，而是假定最优模型将不断变化——并让Runway持续保持竞争力，以便它能继续在前沿领域构建。如果不能作为最优的新AI模型存在，那就作为最优的编排层来存在。

Runway联合创始人兼联合CEO Anastasis Germanidis承认，这家初创公司长期以来主要因“最终用户部分”而闻名，但它必须构建一个完整栈才能实现这一点，这个栈包括开发者平台、创意工具套件，以及其下的推理层。他表示，公司已看到越来越多的企业希望Runway能覆盖整个栈的每个部分。

“你需要出色的模型作为基础，但编排层越来越重要，因为人们正在使用这些模型构建整个活动，或者他们正在从这些模型中生成完整的多场景作品，”Germanidis告诉TechCrunch。“这是我们越来越必须构建的——位于纯像素模型之上的智能层。路由器就是将此类好处传递给用户的一种方式。”

或者正如Maggio更广泛地表述的：“如果你放大来看自2018年以来Runway一直在做的事情，那就是我们专注于研究，同时构建我们认为该领域未来发展的方向。”

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Rebecca Bellan是TechCrunch的高级记者，她报道塑造人工智能的商业、政策和新兴趋势。她的作品也出现在Forbes、Bloomberg、The Atlantic、The Daily Beast及其他出版物。

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Runway no longer wants to be just another AI model company：https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/15/runway-started-by-helping-filmmakers-now-it-wants-to-beat-google-at-ai/. It wants to become the infrastructure layer for generative media.

On Thursday, the startup launched Runway Media Router through Runway Dev：https://runwayml.com/news/company-news/introducing-runway-dev, its developer platform, released earlier this month, that provides API access to a growing roster of third-party image, video, and audio models alongside Runway’s own.

The Media Router is a tool that automatically selects the best image, video, or audio generation model for a request based on whether a developer prioritizes quality, speed, or cost. While model routers have become increasingly common in the world of large language models, Runway says this is the first built specifically for generative media.

“The routing really fits into that overall promise of being the easiest one-stop shop for developers to integrate with any type of generative media model,” Anthony Maggio, Runway’s chief product officer, told TechCrunch.

The launch, shared exclusively with TechCrunch, marks another step in Runway’s evolution from an AI video startup into infrastructure for companies building with generative media. Through Runway Dev, customers including Adobe, Cloudflare, ElevenLabs, Expedia, Shutterstock, and Quora can build media generation directly into their own products using Runway’s API rather than sending their users to Runway’s own app or site.

The launch of the router comes as the number of generative media models has exploded, making it increasingly difficult and time-consuming for developers to evaluate new releases. Through the Runway Dev platform, developers can access the latest media models when they’re released.

“Most developers are not spending the time to really understand the capabilities of each of these models and where they excel or differ based on various types of outputs across video, image, and audio,” Maggio said. “The unique proposition we’re bringing to the table is all of that intelligence around what the best model is for each different use case, and meshing that with preference you apply around the context of your business.”

Maggio noted that Chinese generative media models are becoming increasingly popular. However, many businesses building their own products might not be comfortable working with models that come out of China, so they could, he said, potentially set a preference for American model providers — a preference that may become more common as the Trump administration explores bans and sanctions against Chinese open AI models：https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/treasury-threatens-sanctions-after-white-house-claims-moonshot-distilled-anthropics-fable/.

That’s just one example of preferences that developers can set, though. Maggio says customers are mainly interested in routing the model to account for token pricing and quality. Token pricing has become a hot topic in 2026 as enterprises that went all-in on agentic AI felt the sting of high token bills：https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/05/the-token-bill-comes-due-inside-the-industry-scramble-to-manage-ais-runaway-costs/. In the world of LLMs, model routing for token pricing has become common, so it only makes sense that routing for generative media would follow. The Media Router launch also comes weeks after Runway replaced its unlimited subscription plans with token-based pricing, a move that drew criticism from some users.

On the quality front, deciding which models provide the best quality for any given task isn’t as easy for generative media as it is with language models, Maggio says. That’s where the router’s intelligence layer kicks in. It’s based on the expertise Runway’s in-house creative team has developed in evaluating output across every media type — things like how video models handle motion, how image models handle composition, or how voice models handle lip syncing.

Runway had already done a lot of the work building that intelligence layer for its agent product, a conversational AI creative partner that Runway launched in May：https://runwayml.com/news/introducing-runway-agent to help turn text prompts into fully edited multi-shot videos and marketing campaigns.

The Runway Media Router, Maggio says, takes the same routing technology Runway built for its own products and packages it for outside developers to use.

Runway’s strategy today reflects how fragmented and competitive the current generative media landscape is, and how much the startup needs to expand and pivot to stay competitive. Runway’s last AI video model release — Gen 4.5 — was in December. At the time, the model topped leaderboards, outperforming similar models：https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/01/runway-gen-4-5-video-model-google-open-ai.html from incumbents like Google. In the same month, Runway released its first world model：https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/11/runway-releases-its-first-world-model-adds-native-audio-to-latest-video-model/.

Aside from an upgrade to its video editing model, Aleph 2.0：https://runwayml.com/product/aleph-2, in May, Runway hasn’t dropped a new dedicated frontier video model in months. (TechCrunch has asked when the startup plans to release Gen 5.) Today, while Aleph 2.0 ranks among the leading video editing models according to Artificial Analysis, the company’s text-to-video and image-to-video models no longer lead the rankings. In the top 20 spots are models from heavy hitters like Google and China’s ByteDance and Alibaba.

Rather than asking developers to bet on a single model staying ahead, Media Router assumes that the best model will continue to change — and it keeps Runway in the game so that it can continue to build on the frontier. If not as the best new AI model, then as the best orchestration layer.

Anastasis Germanidis, Runway’s co-founder and co-CEO, acknowledged that the startup has been known for a long time primarily for “that end user piece,” but it had to build a full stack to get there, one that includes a developer platform, a creative tool suite, and an inference layer underneath it all. He says the company has seen increasing interest from companies for Runway to live across every part of that stack.

“You need great models underneath, but the orchestration increasingly matters a lot because people are building entire campaigns with those models, or they’re building entire finished multi-scene generations out of those models,” Germanidis told TechCrunch. “It’s something that we increasingly had to build — that intelligence layer that comes on top of the pure pixel models. The router is one way in which the benefits of that come to users.”

Or as Maggio put it more broadly: “If you zoom out at the one thing Runway has been doing since 2018, it’s that we’re deeply focused on research, while building for where we think the space is going at the same time.”

Got a sensitive tip or confidential documents? Rebecca Bellan is reporting on the inner workings of the AI industry, from the companies shaping its future to the people impacted by their decisions. Contact her securely, and off the record, on Signal at rebeccabellan.491 or via email at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com from a non-work device.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission：https://techcrunch.com/techcrunch-affiliate-monetization-standards/. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.

You can contact or verify outreach from Rebecca by emailing rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com：mailto:rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at rebeccabellan.491 on Signal.

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