TIME magazine named the 'Architects of AI' as its 2025 Person of the Year. Key figures like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, and Sam Altman are highlighted on one of the issue's two covers, which recreates 'Lunch Atop a Skyscraper'.
In a nod to how Artificial Intelligence is reshaping everyday life with its impact felt in tech, business, society and other areas, TIME magazine has for the year 2025 named the "Architects of AI" as the most influential person of the year.
Dual Covers Celebrate AI Pioneers
Among the group of people driving the rapid rise and impact of artificial intelligence globally, the magazine has highlighted key figures including Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, Meta head Mark Zuckerberg, X owner Elon Musk and AI "godmother" Fei-Fei Li on one of the magazine's two covers.
The magazine prepared two separate covers for this year's issue - one a piece of art depicting the letters AI surrounded by workers, and another a painting focused on the tech leaders themselves.
As per a report in the CBS, in one cover, artist Jason Seiler painted an interpretative recreation of the iconic 1932 photograph "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper," an image that depicted workers seated side-by-side on a steel beam hanging high above New York City during the construction of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, which became a symbol of American resilience during the Great Depression. A cast of tech industry characters at the forefront of AI development are perched on the beam in Seiler's recreation. Mark Zuckerberg, of Meta, Lisa Su, of Advanced Micro Devices, Elon Musk, of xAI, Sam Altman, of Open AI, Demis Hassabis, of DeepMind Technologies, Dario Amodei, of Anthropic, and Fei-Fei Li, of Stanford's Human-Centered AI Institute, are all pictured, along with Huang.
Key Figures Driving the AI Revolution
While the core list mentions eight leaders- Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Lisa Su - CEO of AMD, Demis Hassabis CEO of Google DeepMind, Dario Amodei and Fei-Fei Li , it also mentions Masayoshi Son of Japan's Softbank and Indian-origin innovators like Indian origin Karandeep Anand and Sriram Krishnan as featured individuals in context of the broader AI landscape.
The second cover illustration, according to a CBC report is by artist Peter Crowther, places the same executives among scaffolding at what looks like a construction site for the giant letters "AI."
The Rationale Behind the Choice
"2025 was the year when artificial intelligence's full potential roared into view, and when it became clear that there will be no turning back. For delivering the age of thinking machines, for wowing and worrying humanity, for transforming the present and transcending the possible, the Architects of AI are TIME's 2025 Person of the Year," the magazine said in a soical media post.
TIME editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs wrote in a letter to readers that "Person of the Year is a powerful way to focus the world's attention on the people that shape our lives. And this year, no-one had a greater impact than the individuals who imagined, designed, and built AI."
A Legacy of Influence: Past Honorees
In the year 1982, TIME recognised the computer, with the magazine saying Americans had a "giddy passion" for the device. The computer was represented by a number of tech entrepreneurs of the time, including Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and IBM president John Opel.
In the year 2006, the Person of the Year was given to "You" - intended to represent the power of individuals online. Wikipedia contributors, early YouTubers and MySpace users were noted as examples of "the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing".
Ebola fighters were given the magazine's 'Person of the Year' honour in in 2014 while whistleblowers got the coveted honour in the year 2002.
Trump was named the 2024 Person of the Year by the magazine succeeding Taylor Swift, who was the 2023 Person of the Year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)