TIME magazine has published its third annual TIME100 AI list, recognising 100 figures whose work is shaping the development and deployment of artificial intelligence in 2025. The roster spans academia, industry, public policy and the arts, underscoring the technology’s widening economic and social footprint. Among this year’s honourees are deep-learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio; Stanford scholars Fei-Fei Li and Yejin Choi; and Agility Robotics chief executive Peggy Johnson, whose Digit humanoid robots entered commercial warehouse service last year. The list also features high-profile corporate leaders such as Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and xAI founder Elon Musk. TIME notes that the selections illustrate an intensifying global contest for top AI talent, with technology companies offering nine-figure pay packages and investors funnelling unprecedented sums into generative AI. Computer-scientist Stuart Russell, another designee, estimates that current AI spending could outstrip the inflation-adjusted cost of the Manhattan Project by a factor of 25. The publication says the 2025 list is intended as a guide to the individuals steering AI’s economic impact, ethical debates and security implications. The cohort includes entrepreneurs, policymakers and critics from six continents, reflecting both the diversity of applications for advanced AI and the breadth of voices shaping its future.