TIME names Artificial Intelligence as 2025 Person of the Year

For the first time in its history, TIME magazine has not selected a human being, a political figure or a global movement, but a technology: Artificial Intelligence has been named the 2025 Person of the Year. According to TIME’s editorial board, no other force has shaped global dynamics this year as profoundly as AI — across business, politics, culture and everyday life.

In its announcement, TIME highlights AI as the »underlying driver of this year’s most significant decisions« from corporate strategies and innovation cycles to shifts in consumer behavior and public debate. The editors emphasize that AI has accelerated global change at a pace unmatched by any individual leader or organization.

The choice reflects a broader momentum in 2025. Companies across industries integrated large-scale AI systems into their operations, reshaping product development, communication workflows and entire business models. At the same time, AI became a dominant theme in creative industries, influencing film, design, music and digital culture. The magazine notes that questions around responsibility, authorship and transparency have become central to public discourse.

TIME’s editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs explains the decision as a recognition of a »historical turning point«: the moment when AI moved from a supporting technology to a defining factor of global transformation. By naming AI as Person of the Year, TIME underscores that the conversation of 2025 — its hopes, tensions and breakthroughs — revolves around one phenomenon more than any other.

SK