The magazine cover refers to the famous photograph of construction workers on skyscrapers in New York taken in the early 1930s. Instead of workers on the beam, billionaires from tech companies are sitting.
The American magazine Time has awarded the title of Person of the Year to a group of individuals who have become the creators of artificial intelligence.
"2025 was the year when the full potential of artificial intelligence burst into our view and when it became clear that there would be no turning back," the editorial board announced its decision on social media platform X. "For making the age of thinking machines a reality; for what has simultaneously amazed and concerned humanity, for changing the present and expanding the boundaries of the possible, the creators of AI have been named Time's Person of the Year for 2025."
On one of the two covers of the magazine is Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta, Elon Musk, owner of X, and Fei-Fei Li, the 'godmother' of artificial intelligence.
"For decades, humanity has witnessed the emergence of thinking machines," the publication stated on the magazine's website. "We have marveled at their ability to defeat chess champions and predict protein structures, but we have also tried to come to terms with their inherent ominousness, not to mention the threat to what we consider the spirit of humanity."
In the past, the publication has several times awarded the title of Person of the Year not to specific individuals, but to groups of people, phenomena, or even objects.
For example, in 1950 and 2003, American soldiers were named Persons of the Year, in 1960, American scientists, and in 2001, protesters. In 1982, Time named the computer as Person of the Year, and in 1988, the endangered Earth.
In September, OpenAI announced that its chatbot is used by approximately 700 million people each week.
Major technology companies are investing billions of dollars in artificial intelligence and the underlying infrastructure to outpace competitors.
This year, Time prepared two covers: one features an artistic depiction of the letters "AI" surrounded by workers, while the other showcases a portrait of industry leaders.
On the second cover, in addition to Zuckerberg, Huang, Musk, and Li, are Lisa Su, CEO of chipmaker AMD, Sam Altman, head of OpenAI, Dario Amodei, head of Anthropic, and Demis Hassabis, head of Google’s AI lab.
"This year, the discussion on how to use AI responsibly has given way to a race for its fastest possible implementation," Time stated while presenting the new covers. "Thanks to Huang, Son, Altman, and other titans of artificial intelligence, humanity is speeding down the highway toward a highly automated and extremely uncertain future without brakes."
The magazine's editor-in-chief, Sam Jacobs, stated that no one has influenced 2025 as much as "the people who invented, designed, and created AI."
"The path of artificial intelligence development will define humanity, and each of us can play a role in shaping its structure and future," he said.
Forrester analyst Thomas Husson believes that 2025 will be a "turning point" in the mass adoption of AI in everyday life.
"Most consumers are using it without even realizing it," he told the BBC.
According to him, AI is already being integrated into devices, programs, and services and is spreading "much faster than the internet or mobile technologies did in their time."
Nik Kairinos, founder and CEO of Fountech AI, stated that such recognition is an objective assessment of the impact of artificial intelligence technology on society, but in his opinion, "recognition should not be confused with readiness."
"At this moment, artificial intelligence can still be both a savior and a threat to humanity," he noted.
"We are still in the early stages of creating artificial intelligence systems that will be reliable, responsible, and aligned with human values," Kairinos said. "Those of us who are developing this technology and bringing AI products to market bear a huge responsibility."
What is Person of the Year according to Time
Time magazine has been selecting the "Person of the Year" for almost a hundred years, since 1927.
The publication claims that the idea itself came about almost by chance when, after the New Year holidays, the editorial team could not come up with a photograph to put on the magazine's cover after a quiet news week.
"No one did anything significant enough to place their photo on the cover of Time, so someone suggested: let’s stop looking for the Person of the Week and choose the Person of the Year," wrote then-publisher Pierpont Isham Prentice in the January 1, 1945 issue.
Thus, the first Person of the Year according to Time was Charles Lindbergh — the pilot who soloed across the Atlantic in 33 hours and 39 minutes.
The Person of the Year (until 1999 it was "Man of the Year" and "Woman of the Year") can be declared a "person, group of people, some idea, or even an object that has had the most significant impact on the events of the past year, for better or worse."
The selection remains the exclusive prerogative of the editors, and the honoree does not have to be positive, so it is not surprising that in the past, figures such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Ayatollah Khomeini have been named Persons of the Year.
In 2024, the Person of the Year according to Time was U.S. President Donald Trump.
In 2023, the magazine awarded this title to singer Taylor Swift, and in 2022 to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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