Finalists for AI’s Human of the Year 2025

There was no shortage of remarkable individuals contending for the title of AI’s Human of the Year in 2025.

Each of the individuals below ranked in the top 20 across all five large language models used in the evaluation (ChatGPT 5.1, Gemini 3, Claude Opus 4.5, Grok 4.1, and LLaMA 4):

Demis Hassabis

In 2025, Demis Hassabis stood at the center of the year’s most consequential technological force: frontier artificial intelligence. As CEO of Google DeepMind, he oversaw the release of new generations of Gemini and Gemma models that expanded reasoning, multimodal capability, and efficiency at a scale measured in billions of users through Google’s products. These advances flowed directly into search, productivity software, and developer tools, shaping how work, education, and research functioned worldwide. Hassabis also became one of the most visible interpreters of AI’s trajectory, turning what had once been a closed research culture into a public-facing enterprise that influenced how governments, universities, and businesses planned for an AI-shaped future. His 2025 decisions tied scientific progress to everyday life in a way that few researchers ever manage.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s impact in 2025 came from fusing capital, infrastructure, and attention into a single AI-driven ecosystem. He folded X into his AI company, xAI, creating a vertically integrated platform that combined data, distribution, and model development at global scale. Musk raised tens of billions of dollars across debt and equity to fund compute buildouts, while pulling investment from SpaceX and major banks, signaling that AI infrastructure had become a priority on par with rockets and satellites. This consolidation altered competitive dynamics across technology and media, forcing rivals to respond faster and spend more. Musk also kept AI safety, misinformation, and platform power at the center of public discourse, ensuring that debates over technology governance played out in full view of a mass audience.

Jensen Huang

Jensen Huang shaped 2025 by controlling the physical backbone of the AI economy. Under his leadership, Nvidia delivered another year of extraordinary revenue growth, driven by demand for chips that power data centers, cloud services, and model training worldwide. Huang’s product decisions dictated which companies could scale AI systems and how quickly costs fell, giving him influence over innovation timelines across industries from finance to health care. As Nvidia crossed historic market value thresholds, capital markets reoriented around AI infrastructure as the defining investment theme of the decade. In practical terms, Huang’s choices in 2025 determined where compute flowed, which regions attracted data center investment, and how widely advanced AI tools could spread.

Sam Altman

Sam Altman’s influence in 2025 came from shipping the year’s most closely watched AI capabilities while shaping how society thinks about risk and control. As CEO of OpenAI, he oversaw the release of GPT-5 and subsequent updates that pushed AI deeper into coding, knowledge work, education, and enterprise operations. Adoption accelerated across industries, changing productivity expectations and workforce planning. At the same time, Altman elevated questions about AI preparedness, misuse, and long-term risk into mainstream policy conversations, hiring staff and designing internal processes focused on worst-case scenarios. His dual role as product leader and public advocate positioned OpenAI as both a commercial engine and a reference point for governments crafting AI rules.

Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping’s impact in 2025 combined military pressure, economic leverage, and long-term strategic signaling. China conducted its largest and most visible military drills around Taiwan, raising regional alert levels and forcing governments, insurers, and shipping firms to reassess risk in one of the world’s most critical trade corridors. These actions influenced defense planning across the Indo-Pacific and shaped diplomatic calculations in Washington, Tokyo, and European capitals. At the same time, Xi advanced China’s use of industrial policy and export controls, particularly in strategically sensitive materials, reminding global markets of Beijing’s leverage over key supply chains. His actions in 2025 reinforced a global shift toward geopolitical fragmentation, with lasting consequences for trade, security, and technology alignment.

The individuals listed below ranked in the top 20 in at least two of the large language models used to determine AI’s Human of the Year.

Javier Milei

– As Argentina’s president, Milei pushed radical free-market reforms, slashed subsidies, and reshaped the state’s role in the economy, influencing Latin American politics and global emerging-market sentiment.

Mark Zuckerberg

– Zuckerberg steered Meta through aggressive AI expansion, using Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp as global distribution engines for generative AI tools reaching billions of users.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

– As U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kennedy shaped national debates on public health, vaccines, food regulation, and environmental health, altering trust in federal health institutions.

Taylor Swift

– Swift remained one of the world’s most powerful cultural and economic forces, driving massive consumer spending, dominating media attention, and redefining how artists negotiate power with platforms and promoters.

Vladimir Putin

– Putin’s decisions continued to shape global security, energy markets, and geopolitics through Russia’s war posture and diplomatic positioning.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

– Zelenskyy served as Ukraine’s central diplomatic voice, mobilizing military aid, shaping Western public opinion, and anchoring global debates on sovereignty and security.

Benjamin Netanyahu

– As Israel’s prime minister, Netanyahu’s military, security, and domestic legal decisions influenced regional stability and international diplomacy.

Claudia Sheinbaum

– Sheinbaum governed Mexico during a pivotal transition, shaping energy policy, social programs, and U.S.–Mexico relations while positioning the country within shifting global supply chains.

J.D. Vance

– As U.S. vice president, Vance emerged as a key figure shaping domestic policy priorities, conservative ideology, and America’s posture on trade, technology, and foreign affairs.

Jerome Powell

– Powell guided the Federal Reserve through interest-rate decisions that influenced inflation, employment, global capital flows, and financial stability worldwide.

Keir Starmer

– As UK prime minister, Starmer worked to reset Britain’s economic strategy, public services, and international relationships after years of political volatility.

Muhammad Yunus

– Yunus continued to influence global thinking on social enterprise and financial inclusion, shaping development policy and impact-focused finance across emerging economies.

Narendra Modi

– Modi’s leadership affected global manufacturing, geopolitics, and technology as India expanded its role as a strategic power and investment destination.

Sundar Pichai

– As CEO of Google and Alphabet, Pichai oversaw the integration of AI into search, productivity tools, and cloud services used daily by billions of people.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

– Tedros led the World Health Organization’s efforts on global health coordination, outbreak response, and international health governance.

Ahmed al-Sharaa

– Al-Sharaa emerged as a consequential figure in Syria’s evolving power landscape, influencing regional security dynamics and negotiations over the country’s future.

Robert Francis Prevost

– Prevost played an influential role within the Vatican’s leadership, shaping Catholic governance, diplomacy, and global religious discourse during a period of transition.