Adobe teams with Runway to build AI video tools for creatives

Adobe announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Runway on December 18, 2025, integrating Runway's generative video technology with Adobe's creative software ecosystem. The collaboration grants Adobe customers exclusive early access to Runway's latest generative AI models, beginning with Gen-4.5, which launched simultaneously in the Adobe Firefly app and on Runway's platform.

According to the announcement, Adobe becomes Runway's preferred API creativity partner. This designation ensures Adobe customers receive first access to Runway's newest models following their releases. Firefly users can now generate video from text prompts using Gen-4.5, explore different visual directions and motion options, then move directly into Firefly's video editor to assemble clips into finished productions.

The partnership positions Adobe's creative tools—spanning Firefly, Premiere Pro, and After Effects—as the primary professional destination for AI-powered video creation. Ely Greenfield, chief technology officer and senior vice president of digital media at Adobe, stated in the release that professional creators are turning to Adobe's ecosystem "to imagine, craft and scale their stories across every screen."

Runway's Gen-4.5 delivers enhanced motion quality, prompt adherence, and visual fidelity compared to previous versions, according to technical specifications in the announcement. The model enables dynamic action sequences with temporal consistency across generation modes. Creators can stage multi-element scenes with precise compositions, realistic physics, and expressive characters whose gestures and facial performances maintain continuity across shots.

The commercial applications extend beyond individual creators to Hollywood studios, streaming platforms, advertising agencies, Fortune 500 brands, and global enterprises. Both companies indicated they will collaborate directly with these organizations to develop new video capabilities exclusively available in Adobe applications, starting with Adobe Firefly.

Adobe offers multiple generative AI models within Firefly, creating what the company describes as the only platform where creators can access top industry models alongside AI-powered tools for video, audio, imaging, and design. Current partner models include offerings from Black Forest Labs, ElevenLabs, Google, Luma AI, OpenAI, and Topaz Labs, in addition to Adobe's commercially safe Firefly models and Firefly Custom Models for brand-specific generation.

Cristóbal Valenzuela, co-founder and CEO of Runway, emphasized in the announcement that the partnership "puts our latest generative video technology in front of more storytellers, inside Adobe's creative tools that are already the industry standard for many creators around the world."

The collaboration arrives during substantial transformation in video production workflows across the advertising and entertainment industries. Research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau released July 15, 2025, revealed that 86% of buyers currently use or plan to implement generative AI for video advertisement creation. The study projected generative AI creative would account for 40% of all advertisements by 2026.

Adobe's GenStudio platform received significant expansions in October 2025, introducing proprietary AI model customization through Adobe Firefly Foundry alongside integrations with Amazon Ads, Google Marketing Platform, Innovid, LinkedIn, and TikTok. According to Adobe, 99% of Fortune 100 companies have used AI in an Adobe application, while nearly 90% of the company's top 50 enterprise accounts have adopted AI-first innovations including GenStudio offerings.

The timing reflects broader industry momentum toward AI-powered creative production tools. Google launched Asset Studio on September 10, 2025, enabling advertisers to generate and edit advertising assets using artificial intelligence. Microsoft expanded AI capabilities for image animation and video creation in November 2025. MNTN introduced QuickFrame AI in November, compressing commercial production from weeks to approximately 12 minutes.

Adobe maintains what it characterizes as the most creator-friendly approach to AI in the industry. According to the company's stated position, AI functions as a tool for human creativity rather than a replacement. Content created using any model within the Firefly app is not used to train generative AI models, regardless of which partner model a creator selects.

The partnership grants Firefly Pro plan customers unlimited access to Gen-4.5 generations until December 22, 2025. After this promotional period concludes, standard usage limits will apply based on subscription tier.

Technical capabilities within Gen-4.5 address professional requirements for commercial video production. The model generates video clips suitable for integration into existing professional workflows through Premiere Pro and After Effects. Creators maintain full control over composition, pacing, and motion direction through text prompts, then refine outputs using Adobe's established editing tools.

The collaboration represents Adobe's strategy of partnering with specialized AI companies rather than exclusively developing proprietary models. This approach provides customers access to cutting-edge generative capabilities while Adobe focuses on integrating these models into professional creative workflows. Adobe previously launched Firefly video capabilities in February 2025, supporting 1080p resolution for video generation with planned expansions to 4K for professional production work.

The partnership's focus on professional video workflows distinguishes it from consumer-oriented AI video tools. While several platforms enable rapid video generation for social media and digital advertising, Adobe and Runway target production requirements for major studios, streaming platforms, and premium content creation. The announcement specifically emphasizes collaboration with Hollywood studios and major enterprises.

Industry adoption of AI video generation has accelerated throughout 2025. Lemonlight launched Generative AI Commercials on October 1, delivering finished commercial-quality content within days at up to 60% lower cost than traditional production methods. ITV partnered with Magnite to launch the GenAI Ads Manager platform in October, utilizing streamr.ai technology to automate advertisement creation for television and streaming distribution.

The technical infrastructure supporting professional AI video generation requires substantial computational resources and sophisticated model training. Runway has developed multiple generations of its video models, with Gen-4.5 representing the latest advancement in motion quality and visual consistency. The model's ability to maintain character performance and physical realism across extended sequences addresses previous limitations in generative video technology.

Adobe's creative ecosystem spans individual creators, small businesses, agencies, and enterprise organizations. The Firefly platform serves as Adobe's centralized generative AI studio, offering access to multiple models and AI-powered tools across different creative domains. Integration with Creative Cloud applications enables seamless workflows from initial generation through final production.

The two companies did not disclose financial terms of the partnership or specific details about future exclusive capabilities under development. The announcement indicated that new AI innovations developed through the collaboration will be available exclusively in Adobe applications, with initial focus on Adobe Firefly.

Video content production presents significant barriers for advertisers and content creators without dedicated creative teams or substantial production budgets. AI-powered generation tools reduce these obstacles by enabling video asset creation from text descriptions or reference images. The technology compresses timelines that previously required weeks of planning, production, and post-processing into minutes or hours.

Small and mid-tier brands demonstrate faster adoption rates for AI video generation compared to larger enterprises, according to industry research. These organizations leverage AI capabilities to produce professional-quality video without extensive production teams or budgets, enabling competition with established brands in premium video environments.

Connected television advertising spending reached $33.35 billion in 2025, according to industry estimates. The expansion of CTV inventory creates demand for video creative assets at scale. Traditional production methods cannot economically support comprehensive campaign coverage across all potential audience segments and geographic markets, creating opportunities for AI-powered creative generation.

Adobe's 2026 Creative Trends report, released in late 2025, identified four visual strategies expected to dominate creative advertising, including multisensory experiences, emotional connection, surreal design execution leveraging AI capabilities, and local cultural authenticity. The trends reflect how creative professionals are incorporating AI tools into production workflows while maintaining human creative direction.

The partnership announcement did not address copyright or intellectual property considerations related to AI-generated content. Adobe has previously stated that Firefly models are trained exclusively on Adobe Stock content, openly licensed materials, and public domain content where copyright has expired. The company's approach aims to address commercial usage rights concerns that have complicated AI adoption in professional creative environments.

Runway's generative video technology has applications beyond advertising and marketing. Film production, visual effects, concept development, and pre-visualization workflows benefit from rapid generation capabilities. The partnership with Adobe positions Runway's models within professional production environments where integration with established editing and compositing tools is essential.

The December 18 announcement follows Adobe's pattern of expanding AI partnerships throughout 2025. The company integrated AI agents for enterprise customer experience management in September, launched B2B marketing solutions using generative AI for personalized buyer journeys in August, and introduced LLM Optimizer in October to help businesses track presence across AI-powered search platforms.

The collaboration between Adobe and Runway demonstrates consolidation trends in generative AI video technology. Rather than developing isolated tools, companies are forming strategic partnerships that integrate specialized models into established professional workflows. This approach accelerates adoption by reducing friction for creators already familiar with industry-standard applications.

Professional creative workflows require reliability, consistency, and control that early generative AI tools struggled to provide. The partnership emphasizes these requirements through focus on temporal consistency, precise composition control, and integration with professional editing applications. Gen-4.5's capability to maintain character performance and physical realism across shots addresses previous limitations that restricted professional adoption.

The announcement positions Adobe's creative ecosystem as the primary destination for AI-powered video creation among professional users. By securing exclusive early access to Runway's latest models and developing proprietary capabilities through collaboration, Adobe reinforces its position in creative software markets while expanding into AI-native workflows.

Industry transformation extends beyond creative production tools to encompass measurement, attribution, and optimization systems. Video advertising effectiveness increasingly depends on AI-powered targeting and delivery systems that match creative assets to audience segments and contextual environments. The integration of generative video capabilities into advertising platforms enables automated creative optimization at scale.

The partnership's emphasis on Fortune 500 brands, major studios, and global enterprises indicates focus on high-value commercial applications rather than consumer social media content. Professional requirements for brand consistency, production quality, and commercial rights clearance differ substantially from casual video generation for personal use.

Adobe's forward-looking statements in the announcement acknowledge risks and uncertainties around the partnership, including potential failure to innovate effectively, competition, and challenges in realizing anticipated benefits. The company noted that service interruptions, security incidents, and complex third-party relationships could impact partnership outcomes.

Timeline

• December 18, 2025: Adobe announces multi-year strategic partnership with Runway, bringing Gen-4.5 to Firefly (source)
• December 22, 2025: Promotional unlimited Gen-4.5 access period ends for Firefly Pro customers
• October 28, 2025: Adobe expands GenStudio with Firefly Foundry custom models and advertising platform integrations
• October 15, 2025: Adobe launches LLM Optimizer for AI visibility tracking
• September 10, 2025: Adobe launches AI agents for enterprise customer experience automation
• September 10, 2025: Google launches Asset Studio for advertising creative production
• August 17, 2024: Adobe unveils AI-powered B2B marketing solution
• July 15, 2025: Interactive Advertising Bureau releases research showing 86% of buyers using or planning AI video ad creation (source)
• February 14, 2025: Adobe launches Firefly app for generating images, vectors and videos

Summary

Who: Adobe, the San Jose-based creative software company, partnered with Runway, a generative AI video technology company led by co-founder and CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela. The partnership targets professional creators, Hollywood studios, streaming platforms, advertising agencies, Fortune 500 brands, and global enterprises.

What: The multi-year strategic partnership grants Adobe status as Runway's preferred API creativity partner, providing exclusive early access to Runway's latest generative video models. The collaboration begins with Gen-4.5, now available in Adobe Firefly app, and includes plans to develop specialized AI video capabilities exclusively for Adobe applications. Customers can generate video from text prompts, explore visual directions, and integrate outputs into professional editing workflows through Premiere Pro and After Effects.

When: Adobe announced the partnership on December 18, 2025, with Gen-4.5 immediately available in Firefly and on Runway's platform. Firefly Pro plan customers receive unlimited Gen-4.5 access through December 22, 2025. The companies plan ongoing collaboration to develop future exclusive capabilities, though specific release timelines were not disclosed.

Where: The partnership operates globally through Adobe Firefly app, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, and other Creative Cloud applications. Gen-4.5 generates video content at 1080p resolution suitable for deployment across digital advertising platforms, streaming services, theatrical distribution, and social media channels. The technology serves markets spanning independent filmmakers to major Hollywood studios.

Why: The partnership addresses growing demand for AI-powered video production tools among professional creators and enterprises. According to industry research, 86% of advertising buyers currently use or plan to implement generative AI for video creation, with projections indicating AI will account for 40% of advertisements by 2026. Traditional video production requires substantial time and budget investments that limit content output, while AI-powered generation enables rapid iteration and scaling across multiple campaigns, markets, and platforms. The collaboration positions Adobe's creative ecosystem as the primary professional destination for AI video creation while providing Runway access to Adobe's established user base.