Is AI Hollywood’s Newest Star? Runway AI’s Vision for the Future of Film

On with Kara Swisher

New York Magazine

Society & Culture

4.2 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 11 September 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

AI video generators are making storytelling more affordable — and one day, the tools may allow anyone with enough creativity to become a filmmaker. But the same technology can power convincing deepfakes that undermine our shared reality and destabilize our politics. Cristobal Valenzuela, the co-founder and CEO of Runway AI, joins Kara to discuss how its tools are disrupting the advertising and film industries, and why Hollywood studios might not want to admit how much they are using them. They also talk about how Runway is holding its own against (and warding off takeover advances from) much bigger tech players, and the AI video industry's responsibility in preventing deepfakes and political manipulation. Plus: Kara becomes a Top Gun pilot! Watch the video on the On With Kara Swisher YouTube page. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone from New York Magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network.
0:15.5	This is on with Kara Swisher, and I'm Kara Swisher.
0:18.8	Really, it's me, the real Kara Swisher. You may think it's weird to stress that. We're getting close to an AI-generated future where you might not know if the influencer you follow or the host of your favorite podcast is a human or an AI-generated bot. As First Lady Melania Trump said last week, the robots are here. Our future is no longer science fiction.
0:39.2	I think that's a really bad version of Melania Trump, but I don't know what she was talking about.
0:44.0	That said, that's what I want to talk about with my guest today, Christobal Valenzuela,
0:49.1	co-founder and CEO of Runway AI, a media company that builds tools for creating AI generated images and
0:55.1	videos. It and its competitors are already disrupting the advertising and film industry,
1:00.0	and Runway is taking steps into gaming, and yes, Melania, robotics. I want to talk to Valenzuela
1:05.8	about how their products work, how they're competing with much bigger tech players in this
1:10.1	space and warding off their
1:11.6	takeover advances. I also want to talk to him about what responsibility the AI video industry
1:16.8	has in preventing deep fakes, including ones that could have devastating political consequences.
1:22.8	By the way, we tried out some of Runways tools, and we're going to talk about that too.
1:26.5	So if you want to see some weird AI videos of me, I think I look great.
1:30.1	Check out our YouTube page on with Kara Swisher.
1:33.3	Our expert question today comes from entertainment reporter Matt Bellany,
1:37.2	founding partner of Puck News and the host of the Hollywood Insider podcast, The Town with Matt Bellany.
1:43.9	This is the kind of lively conversation
1:45.7	that's hard to fake, so stick around. Support for On with Carousisher comes from Sacks Fifth Avenue.
1:57.0	Sacks makes easiest shop for your personal style. Falls here, so it's time to invest in new arrivals you want to wear again and again,
2:03.8	like a relaxed Prada Blazer and Gucci Lovers, which you can take from work to the weekend.
2:08.5	Sacks makes shopping feel customized to you from in-store stylist to their website, sacks.com,
	...

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