In a surprising and unexplained move, AI video creation company Runway has deleted all its open-source models from the Hugging Face platform, leaving the tech community in disarray. The sudden deletion of the models, including the popular Stable Diffusion v1.5, has raised questions about the underlying reasons and the implications for developers who rely on these tools.
The Disappearance of Runway’s Models
According to a report by ZhiXin DongXi (智东西), Runway has quietly removed all its models from both Hugging Face and GitHub, two major open-source communities. The project pages now display a 404 error and a brief note directing users to explore other open-source image generation models on the Hugging Face platform.
Runway, known for its video generation products, gained attention for its open-source image generation models. However, the sudden deletion without any prior notice has left many in the tech community bewildered.
The Mystery Behind the Runway Run
The exact timing of the deletion remains unclear, but it is known that the models were available as recently as three days ago. The Internet Archive shows that Runway’s Hugging Face page was last captured on August 27, with the Stable Diffusion v1.5 and another image restoration model still intact.
Despite the deletion, Runway’s official social media platforms appear unchanged, with recent posts promoting AI and art research events. This lack of explanation has led to speculation about the reasons behind the sudden move.
Potential Reasons for the Abrupt Exit
Two main theories have emerged regarding the reasons for Runway’s departure from the open-source community. The first revolves around a potential dispute with Stability AI, a fellow AI startup involved in the development of Stable Diffusion.
Stable Diffusion was a collaborative effort between Stability AI, the University of Munich, and Runway. However, when Runway announced the open-source release of Stable Diffusion v1.5 in October 2022, it was quickly taken down, only to be重新上线 shortly thereafter. According to some reports, Stability AI claimed that the release infringed on intellectual property rights, leading to its temporary removal from Hugging Face.
However, Emad Mostaque, the CEO of Stability AI, refuted these claims, stating that his company did not make any legal requests to remove the model. He argued that Runway had agreed not to release the v1.5 version and did so without informing him, leading to the误会 that someone had leaked the model.
The second theory revolves around potential copyright issues that Runway might have faced, leading to the deletion of the models as a form of evidence destruction.
The Impact on Developers
The sudden deletion of these models has left developers who rely on them in a bind. For those in the middle of projects, the need to find alternative solutions and adjust workflows could result in significant losses and delays.
One netizen commented, This is why we need a decentralized model weight hosting solution, highlighting the need for more robust and reliable platforms for open-source projects.
Conclusion
Runway’s abrupt exit from the open-source community has raised questions about the stability of such platforms and the potential risks associated with relying on them. As the company has yet to provide an official statement, the true reasons behind the deletion remain speculative. However, the incident serves as a reminder of the importance of clear communication, intellectual property rights, and the need for robust frameworks to support open-source innovation.
For now, the tech community is left to wonder what comes next for Runway and the future of open-source AI models.
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