Time Magazine has designated "the architects" of artificial intelligence (AI) as its Person of the Year for 2025, recognizing a group rather than a single individual. This selection highlights the expanding influence of AI and associated companies across society.
Featured Individuals
The magazine's two covers feature several prominent figures in the AI field:
- Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia
- Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta
- Elon Musk, owner of X
- Fei-Fei Li, an AI researcher and professor
- Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI
- Lisa Su, CEO of AMD
- Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic
- Sir Demis Hassabis, lead of Google's AI lab
One cover visually references the historic "Lunch atop a Skyscraper" photograph, depicting tech leaders. The other portrays the letters "AI" surrounded by workers.
Time's Rationale
Time's announcement indicated that the year 2025 saw a shift from debates about responsible AI usage to rapid deployment. Editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs stated that no individuals had a greater impact in 2025 than those who "imagined, designed, and built AI," emphasizing humanity's role in determining AI's future path.
AI Growth and Industry Investment
The recognition follows a period of accelerated growth in AI technology, initiated by the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in late 2022. Sam Altman reported in September that ChatGPT is utilized by approximately 800 million individuals weekly. Major technology firms are allocating substantial financial resources to AI development and its supporting infrastructure.
Societal Integration and Concerns
Thomas Husson, an analyst at Forrester, characterized 2025 as a potential "tipping point" for AI's integration into daily life, noting that many consumers engage with AI without conscious awareness. Husson observed that AI is being incorporated into various hardware, software, and services, leading to a faster adoption rate compared to previous technological revolutions like the internet or mobile. Examples of AI applications include planning travel, selecting gifts, and discovering recipes.
Conversely, some individuals express concerns and choose to limit their AI usage. These concerns include the energy consumption of AI systems, the origin and ethics of training data, and the potential impact on employment.
Nik Kairinos, founder and CEO of Fountech AI, commented on the magazine's assessment, stating that while it reflects AI's influence, it should not be equated with complete readiness. Kairinos highlighted that the development of dependable, accountable, and human-values-aligned AI systems is still in its early stages, underscoring the significant responsibility of those developing and commercializing AI tools.