Runway prepares to invest $450 million. according to information, General Atlantic led the new round, valuing RunwayML at $4 billion. The New York company has previously raised $237 million. Investors include Google, Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Amplify Partners, Lux Capital Management, Coatue Management and Madrona Venture Group.
Gen-3 Alpha can create videos up to 10 seconds long. And they’re awesome. Really awesome. But AI image generation can be expensive. Runway Gen-3 charges $1 for every 10 seconds of video it generates. If you’re serious about image generation and want to create multiple projects, it can get expensive quickly, as you’ll need dozens of “takes” for each usable shot. Director Paul Trillo says it took more than 700 generations to create the Sora music video. Washed off700 x $6 = $4,200. Achieving Trillo’s vision without AI would cost millions of dollars, but I wouldn’t call $4,200 “democratizing the media.” In fact, Luma AI charges $400 for 30 generations of Dream Machine AI.
“Gen-3 is cool. We’ve tested it quite a bit and it seems to be very good for simulating reality and establishing shots,” says Caleb Ward, CEO and co-founder of Curious Refuge, known for Wes Anderson’s Star Wars and YouTube AI sensations. “The real utility of Gen-3 comes when you can upload reference images. Without this ability, it’s very hard to get the end result you want, and you can end up using a lot of costly generation credits.” TechRadar’s Eric Schwartz says, “This move shows that Runway is ready to professionalize its product after having a chance to refine it thanks to all the people playing with the free model.”
Early access user Dor Brothers demonstrated Gen-3’s capabilities with the AI ​​fashion runway show seen above, and they’ve launched a Discord server to teach others how to create their own imaginative fashion show editions.
When it launched in February, Sora seemed way ahead of others in the AI ​​video space. With releases from Runway Gen-3 Alpha, Luma AI’s Dream Machine, Google’s Vudu, China’s Kling, and more from Pika, the text-to-video category is getting crowded with companies and venture funding. Popcorn please!
Time magazine has historically derived most of its revenue from advertising.
Open AI License Time Library. OpenAI is fighting lawsuits claiming fair use for all websites it scrapes while also working to get legal. This week, it announced a deal for 100 years of Time content. The company already has licensing deals with News Corp, Axel Springer, The Financial Times, Reddit and the Associated Press.
Eleven Labs’ new Reader app now lets you choose the voice you’re most comfortable with.
Eleven Labs brings voices of deceased celebrities to its reading app. AI audio company ElevenLabs has licensed the voices of classic stars like Judy Garland, James Dean and more, and will use them to read books, articles, PDFs and other text materials to mobile users of its new reading app.
Meta’s 3D Gen system goes from the fantastical to … [+]
Meta’s new AI system can accelerate 3D assets. Three years ago, Meta teased “Builder Bot,” a voice-driven 3D world builder. “Builder Bot, make me a beach scene,” a cartoonish Zuck avatar asked in a demo video. Builder Bot instantly generated an entire scene replete with ocean, sand, beach chairs, towels, and palm trees. Now, with Meta’s new AI system, 3D Gen, it’s a reality. 3D Gen combines AssetGen and TextureGen to rapidly create high-quality 3D assets with realistic textures from text descriptions. 3D Gen’s impact is far-reaching, both inside and outside the Metaverse.
NASCAR has released the new Chicago Street Course map. It is inspired by the real-life NASCAR Chicago Street Race, which takes place on Sunday, July 7. In Fortnite’s Chicago Street map, players will navigate multiple routes, master the art of speed and drifting, and avoid obstacles in multiplayer races and solo time trials. The official release of NASCAR in Fortnite brings the second annual event to the heart of one of the world’s greatest cities, bringing a digital twin of one of the world’s greatest and most iconic cities to the Fortnite metaverse.
VRTO is back, live and in person!
The 9th VRTO Spatial Media World Congress & Expo will open on Wednesday 10 July. This year’s venue is OCAD University, in the heart of the city’s Media Arts District. Attendees include executives, investors, hackers, gamers, developers, artists, and leading experts in education, healthcare, and enterprise. I’ve always found the show to be a very friendly, laid back and welcome summer escape in one of the world’s great cities.
This column was formerly called “This Week in XR” and is also available as a podcast. The show is hosted by author Charlie Fink, former studio executive and Red Camera co-founder Ted Silowitz, and Magic Leap founder Ronnie Abovitz. They won’t be performing on July 5, but will return to their regular weekly schedule on July 12 with Aris MD co-founder and CEO Chandra Devam. You can find it on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.
What we’re reading
All the major enterprise XR announcements at AWE (Rory Zierner/XR Today)
Fortnite’s Metallica concert shows just how widespread the game has become (Andrew Webster/The Verge)
Tim Sweeney explains why Fortnite “has no plans” for VR support (Henry Stockdale/UploadVR)
