The two covers of TIME magazine's 2025 Person of the Year issue. (Supplied: TIME)
In short:
TIME magazine says AI is "wowing and worrying humanity" and changing the world in "sometimes frightening ways".
The Person of the Year edition of the magazine features interviews with chief executives as well as stories exploring potential negative aspects of the technology.
The annual award has regularly been given to groups of people, including women who have spoken out about sexual abuse.
TIME magazine has named "The Architects of AI" as its Person of the Year for 2025, citing the tremendous technological advances made by the artificial intelligence industry in bringing on the age of "thinking machines".
"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," TIME editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs wrote in a letter to readers.
Jacobs described the architects as "wowing and worrying humanity" and "transforming the present and transcending the possible".
"This was the year when artificial intelligence's full potential roared into view, and when it became clear that there will be no turning back or opting out,"
he said.
The announcement confirmed rumours that appeared on the internet over the prior 24 hours after the issue's two covers were leaked, leading to a large swing in online betting markets.
The Person of the Year issue features a cover story that explores how AI has changed the world over the past year, in new and "sometimes frightening ways".
It features interviews with Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, as well as exploring the troubling aspects of AI, such as the death of a 16-year-old boy who took his own life after speaking with ChatGPT, leading his parents to sue its maker, OpenAI.
In June 2024, TIME signed a multi-year content deal with OpenAI that gave the tech company access to its archived news content to power its answers.
Trump, Zelenskyy, Hitler among past winners
TIME's previous Person of the Year was then-US-president-elect Donald Trump, who pulled off a remarkable political comeback in 2024 to return to the White House despite his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss, as well as dozens of felony convictions, criminal indictments and sexual assault allegations.
He was also named Person of the Year in 2016.
Other recent winners include pop star Taylor Swift, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, activist Greta Thunberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Ruhollah Khomeini have also earned the title — which, as the magazine is often at pains to point out, is not an endorsement of its winner's views, but rather a recognition of the person's influence, "for better or for worse".
TIME has also regularly conferred the title to groups of people or trends, despite the award's singular name.
In 2017 it chose "The Silence Breakers" in recognition of women who had spoken out about sexual abuse and harassment, while the 1982 Person of the Year was simply "The Computer".