For 2025, TIME magazine has named the “Architects of AI” as its Person of the Year — honouring the people behind the rapid rise and widespread impact of artificial intelligence. Rather than selecting a single individual, the magazine recognised the influential creators, designers, and leaders whose innovations propelled AI from niche technology to a defining force shaping society around the world.
TIME described 2025 as the year when artificial intelligence’s full potential “roared into view,” fundamentally altering industries, economies, and everyday life. The architects credited include leaders of major AI companies and labs who have driven breakthroughs in large language models, computing infrastructure, robotics, and practical applications across sectors like medicine, defence, and business. This selection reflects how deeply AI has entered mainstream awareness and influence over the year.
The magazine’s choice also underscores the dual nature of AI’s impact: its ability to “wow and worry” humanity. While AI has delivered advancements such as accelerated research, productivity gains, and new tools for creativity and problem‑solving, it has also sparked debates about misinformation, ethical risks, job disruption, and concentrated corporate power. TIME emphasised that these architects have shaped both the opportunities and challenges brought by AI.
This recognition continues TIME’s tradition of highlighting forces that most affected global headlines and public life in the past year. By honouring the architects of AI, the magazine reflects the technology’s central role in contemporary discourse — not just as an innovation, but as a transformative cultural, economic, and political phenomenon that will influence the future.
