The somewhat anonymous laureate beat out names like Pope Leo, New York's future mayor Zorhan Mamdani, and various tech entrepreneurs who had appeared in the speculation.
"We recognize a force that has dominated this year's headlines, for better or worse. For bringing us the age of thinking machines, for impressing and alarming . . . the architects behind AI Times are Person of the Year 2025," writes editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs.
Last year, US President Donald Trump took the title, and the year before that, the artist Taylor Swift.
Person of the Year has been named since 1927, when the award was called Man of the Year and went to the Atlantic aviator Charles Lindbergh. In 2019, climate activist Greta Thunberg was honored. The award usually goes to a person, but over the years, the PC (1982) and the Endangered World (1988) have been recognized, according to Time.
