TIME Magazine Names ‘Architects of AI’ 2025 Person of the Year
Artificial intelligence dominated global headlines throughout 2025 with rapid advancements in models, infrastructure, and applications. TIME magazine recognized this shift by selecting a group collectively known as the ‘Architects of AI’ as its 2025 Person of the Year. The designation highlights key figures driving the technology’s development and deployment.
The group includes Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, xAI founder Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, AMD CEO Lisa Su, and Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li. TIME’s announcement emphasizes how these leaders delivered thinking machines that transformed industries and society. One cover recreates the iconic ‘Lunch atop a Skyscraper’ photograph with these executives on a beam.
TIME editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs described 2025 as the year AI’s potential fully emerged, with no reversal possible. The magazine notes AI’s integration into enterprise productivity, where tools now handle up to 90 percent of code generation at companies like Anthropic. AMD’s Lisa Su stated that 2025 marked AI becoming truly productive for businesses.
Major tech firms invested heavily in AI infrastructure during the year. Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta collectively planned $370 billion for data centers and related facilities. Demand surged for large-scale AI factories, leading to construction in regions with excess power capacity, including West Texas wind farms and Norwegian hydropower sites.
The recognition reflects AI’s dual impact, exciting innovations while raising concerns over ethics, jobs, and power consumption. TIME’s feature includes interviews with figures like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and investor Masayoshi Son of SoftBank. Previous group selections include Ebola fighters in 2014 and whistleblowers in 2002.
This choice follows Donald Trump as 2024 Person of the Year and Taylor Swift in 2023. It underscores AI’s role as a consequential force in great-power competition, comparable to nuclear weapons in historical significance.
The ‘Architects of AI’ embody the collaborative effort across companies and research institutions. Their work accelerated model capabilities, chip design, and ecosystem building. Nvidia’s chips powered much of the boom, while OpenAI and Anthropic advanced frontier models.
Enterprise adoption grew, with AI agents automating complex tasks. Data center expansion highlighted physical infrastructure demands, consuming vast electricity. TIME frames the selection as acknowledging those who wowed and worried humanity through unprecedented technological change.
