OpenAI vs Runway: Founders, CEOs and History
OpenAI was founded in 2015 by Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Greg Brockman and is led by Sam Altman. Runway was founded in 2018 by Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alejandro Matamala-Ortiz, Anastasis Germanidis and is led by Cristóbal Valenzuela and Anastasis Germanidis (co-CEOs).
Company facts
Founders
OpenAI
Sam Altman
Sam Altman co-chaired OpenAI at its 2015 founding and became CEO in 2019. He negotiated the Microsoft partnership, oversaw the ChatGPT launch in 2022, survived the board's brief attempt to remove him in November 2023, and led the October 2025 recapitalization…
Elon Musk
Elon Musk was an early co-chair and funder of OpenAI and left its board in February 2018. He later founded rival xAI in 2023 and sued OpenAI, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman in 2024, arguing the company abandoned its nonprofit mission.
Greg Brockman
Greg Brockman left his role as Stripe CTO to co-found OpenAI in 2015 and serves as president.
Ilya Sutskever
Ilya Sutskever was OpenAI's chief scientist from 2015 to May 2024, overseeing work behind the GPT series and ChatGPT. He voted to remove Sam Altman in November 2023, then said he regretted it. After leaving OpenAI he co-founded Safe Superintelligence Inc.
Runway
Cristóbal Valenzuela
Cristóbal Valenzuela co-founded Runway in 2018 and has led it as CEO since; he has shared the role as co-CEO with Anastasis Germanidis since early 2026.
Alejandro Matamala-Ortiz
Alejandro Matamala-Ortiz co-founded Runway in 2018 and led product design, shaping the browser-based interface that made machine learning models usable by artists and editors without code.
Anastasis Germanidis
Anastasis Germanidis co-founded Runway in 2018 and led its research and engineering as CTO. In 2026 he became co-CEO alongside Valenzuela, a change Runway said formalized his role driving research.
CEOs and their tenures
OpenAI
- Greg Brockman2015–present
President and Co-founder
Former Stripe CTO; returned from a 2024 sabbatical and remains president.
Source - Mira Murati2018–2024
Chief Technology Officer and interim CEO (former)
Served as interim CEO for two days in November 2023; left OpenAI in 2024.
Source - Sam Altman2019–present
Chief Executive Officer
Co-founder and CEO who turned OpenAI from a research lab into a consumer and enterprise platform; briefly removed by the board in November 2023 and reinstated days later.
Source - Fidji Simo2025–2026
CEO of Applications (former)
Former Instacart CEO who ran ChatGPT and other applications; stepped down from the full-time role in July 2026 for health reasons and stayed on as an adviser.
Source - Vijaye Raji2025–present
CTO of Applications
Statsig founder who joined via the 2025 acquisition to head product engineering for ChatGPT and Codex.
Source
Runway
- Kamil Sindi
Chief Technology Officer
Listed by Runway as CTO for its 2026 AI Summit in San Francisco.
Source - Anthony Maggio
Chief Product Officer
Listed by Runway as CPO for its 2026 AI Summit in San Francisco.
Source - Cristóbal Valenzuela2018–present
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
CEO since founding; led Runway through Gen-1, Gen-2, Gen-3 Alpha, Gen-4 and Gen-4.5 and fundraising from Series A to the $315M Series E at $5.3B.
Source - Anastasis Germanidis2018–present
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Long-time research and technology lead; named co-CEO in 2026. Announced the $200M ARR milestone and the Kinetix team joining in September 2026.
Source
Timeline: OpenAI and Runway side by side
2015OpenAI
OpenAI founded as a nonprofit
OpenAI launched in December 2015 as a nonprofit AI research lab.
2018Runway
Runway founded
Founded in New York by three NYU ITP alumni as a no-code toolkit for running machine learning models.
2019OpenAI
Capped-profit entity and Microsoft deal
OpenAI created a capped-profit subsidiary and received a $1 billion investment from Microsoft.
2021Runway
Latent diffusion paper
Runway researchers co-authored the latent diffusion paper with LMU Munich, the basis of Stable Diffusion.
2022OpenAI
ChatGPT launch
ChatGPT launched on November 30, 2022 and reached 100 million users faster than any prior consumer app.
2023OpenAI
Board crisis
The nonprofit board removed Sam Altman in November 2023; he returned as CEO within days and the board was rebuilt.
2023Runway
Gen-1 and Gen-2 launch; $1.5B valuation
Released Gen-1 (video-to-video) and Gen-2 (text-to-video) and raised a $141M Series C extension from investors including Google and NVIDIA.
2024Runway
Gen-3 Alpha and Lionsgate deal
Launched Gen-3 Alpha and Act-One, and agreed to train a custom model on Lionsgate's library.
2025OpenAI
Acquired Jony Ive's io
OpenAI agreed to buy hardware startup io for just under $6.5 billion in an all-equity deal.
2025OpenAI
Recapitalization into OpenAI Group PBC
In October 2025 the for-profit became a public benefit corporation controlled by the OpenAI Foundation; Microsoft received about 27%.
2025Runway
Series D, Gen-4, Gen-4.5 and GWM-1
Raised a $308M Series D at just over $3B in April, then released Gen-4, Gen-4.5 and its first general world model, GWM-1.
2026OpenAI
$122B funding round
OpenAI closed $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation on March 31, 2026.
2026OpenAI
Run rate nears $70B
Axios reported in September 2026 that annual recurring revenue was nearing $70 billion.
2026Runway
$315M Series E at $5.3B
General Atlantic led the February round; Germanidis became co-CEO.
2026Runway
$200M ARR and Kinetix team joins
ARR doubled from about $100M in April to $200M in September; the Paris-based Kinetix team joined to work on robotics.
Acquisitions
OpenAI
- io Products2025$6.5B
- Statsig2025$1.1B
- Rockset2024Undisclosed
- Global Illumination2023Undisclosed
Questions about OpenAI vs Runway
Who is the CEO of OpenAI and Runway?
OpenAI is led by Sam Altman and Runway is led by Cristóbal Valenzuela and Anastasis Germanidis (co-CEOs). Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was OpenAI founded vs Runway?
OpenAI was founded in 2015 — 3 years before Runway, which was founded in 2018. OpenAI's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Runway.
How many employees does OpenAI have compared to Runway?
OpenAI employs approximately 4,500 people, while Runway employs approximately 140. OpenAI has the larger workforce at 4,500 employees, compared to Runway's 140. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are OpenAI and Runway headquartered?
Both OpenAI and Runway are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded OpenAI and Runway?
OpenAI was founded by Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever. Runway was founded by Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alejandro Matamala-Ortiz, Anastasis Germanidis.
Which company has a longer operating history — OpenAI or Runway?
OpenAI has been operating for approximately 11 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Runway has been in operation for around 8 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the OpenAI vs Runway overview