TIME Magazine has named the “Architects of AI” as its Person of the Year for 2025, highlighting the U.S.-based CEOs and leaders who are driving the global artificial intelligence race. This recognition underscores the central role AI has played in shaping public discourse, economic concerns, and technological development worldwide.
The decision follows TIME’s recent picks, including U.S. President Donald Trump in 2024 and pop star Taylor Swift in 2023 for her economic impact through the Eras Tour. This year, the focus has shifted to technology, reflecting the rapid deployment of AI and the intense competition among leading companies. According to Edelman data, AI evokes both optimism for some and economic anxiety for the broader public.
The CEOs and innovators recognized include Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Tesla’s Elon Musk, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, AMD’s Lisa Su, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, and World Labs’ Fei-Fei Li. TIME notes that these leaders, through multibillion-dollar investments in one of the largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken, have reshaped government policies, intensified geopolitical competition, and accelerated AI adoption globally.
The announcement was made official on Thursday morning, though images of the magazine cover were reportedly leaked on the forecast market Polymarket the previous evening. The accompanying article emphasizes a shift from decades of cautious preparation for “thinking machines” and warnings of unforeseen consequences to a rapid, high-stakes deployment race in AI technology.
