Time magazine has named the “Architects of AI” as its Person of the Year for 2025, marking what it calls the moment artificial intelligence’s transformative power became impossible to ignore.
Announcing the decision Thursday, the magazine said 2025 was the year AI moved decisively into everyday life, with consequences that are reshaping economies, politics and society at large. “For delivering the age of thinking machines, for wowing and worrying humanity, for transforming the present and transcending the possible, the Architects of AI are TIME’s 2025 Person of the Year,” the magazine said.
Rather than selecting the technology itself, Time chose the people behind it — the leaders and pioneers who imagined, designed and built today’s AI systems. Editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs said the choice reflected Time’s tradition of sometimes honoring groups or defining forces, rather than a single individual.
“We’ve named not just individuals but also groups, and on rare occasions, even a concept,” Jacobs wrote, pointing to past selections such as the personal computer in 1982 and the endangered Earth in 1988.
One of Time’s cover images — styled after the iconic 1930s photograph Lunch Atop a Skyscraper — depicts eight prominent AI figures seated on a steel beam: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, founder of startup World Labs. Another cover shows scaffolding surrounding oversized “AI” lettering designed to resemble computer hardware.
Five of those featured — Musk, Zuckerberg, Huang, Altman and Su — are already billionaires, with a combined net worth estimated at $870 billion, according to Forbes. Much of that wealth has been amassed during the recent surge of investment and interest in artificial intelligence.
Industry analysts say the recognition reflects a pivotal shift. Thomas Husson of research firm Forrester said 2025 marked the year AI moved from a niche tool for early adopters to something broadly accepted as part of mainstream life.
Time also pointed to the presence of AI executives at U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration as evidence of the sector’s growing political and economic influence. “This was the year when artificial intelligence’s full potential roared into view, and when it became clear that there will be no turning back,” Jacobs wrote.
Still, the selection has drawn warnings from experts concerned about the pace of AI development. Anthony Aguirre, executive director of the Future of Life Institute, cautioned that leading companies are openly pursuing systems that could replace humans across many areas of work.
“The impact on our society could be catastrophic if there are no guardrails protecting what’s human,” Aguirre said.
AI had been widely viewed as a frontrunner for the title in prediction markets, alongside figures such as Huang and Altman. Other names floated as contenders included Pope Leo XIV — the first American pope — U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
