TIME mgazine on Thursday named the ‘Architects of Artificial Intelligence” as the 2025 Person of the Year, with the magazine citing 2025 as when the potential of artificial intelligence “roared into view” with no turning back.
Time is highlighting the people whose work propelled artificial intelligence from a cutting-edge experiment into a defining force of modern life. The decision marks a moment the magazine describes as the year when AI’s potential “roared into view” and firmly embedded itself in everyday society.
The publication emphasized that the recognition is directed at the innovators behind the technology rather than the systems they built. The group includes the “individuals who imagined, designed, and built AI,” a choice that editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs said reflects the scale of their impact on global culture, politics, and industry. “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 or opting out,” Jacobs wrote, calling AI “the most consequential tool in great-power competition since the advent of nuclear weapons.”
The Person of the Year issue features two separate covers: one showing workers assembling the towering letters “AI,” and another paying homage to the 1932 “Lunch atop a Skyscraper” photograph, with tech leaders perched on a steel beam above a city skyline. The artwork includes figures such as Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Lisa Su, Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, Dario Amodei and Fei-Fei Li. A second cover story explores the perspectives of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Baidu CEO Robin Li.
Analysts noted that 2025 marked a turning point: AI moved from an early-adopter technology to one embraced by a broad consumer base. According to research firm Forrester, a “critical mass of consumers” now sees AI as part of routine life. Prediction markets had also listed AI, along with prominent tech CEOs, Pope Leo XIV, President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, as leading contenders for the title.
Time’s long-running Person of the Year tradition dates back to 1927. The honor has sometimes gone to groups or concepts—not only individuals—such as “the endangered earth” in 1988, the personal computer in 1982, and “You” in 2006. In 2024, the magazine chose President Donald Trump after his return to the White House, following Taylor Swift’s selection in 2023.
Alongside its main announcement, Time also revealed several other annual honors: YouTube’s Neal Mohan was named CEO of the Year, Leonardo DiCaprio received Entertainer of the Year, A’ja Wilson was named Athlete of the Year, and KPop Demon Hunters earned Breakthrough of the Year.
The 2025 Person of the Year issue goes on sale Dec. 19.
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