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Three years ago, TIME magazine published its first TIME100 AI list, with the goal of identifying the leading figures in the field of artificial intelligence. This list was intended to serve as a reliable guide for readers trying to make sense of the rapid developments in this field. Since then, these technologies have evolved from mere innovative curiosities to an integral part of daily work and life for many people, becoming one of the fundamental tools through which the world seeks and acquires knowledge.
Today, activity in the AI sector has proven to be exceptionally dynamic and controversial, filled with both grand promises and serious concerns. The figures who made the TIME100 AI list in 2026 fully reflect this turbulent and dynamic state of the industry. Over the past 12 months, top executives such as Elon Musk of xAI have taken leading AI companies public. Others, including Dario Amodei of Anthropic, have engaged in public disputes with the Pentagon over the military use of AI tools in combat. Founders such as Larry Ellison of Oracle have been actively building new data centers, which, according to industry representatives, are necessary to unlock the full potential of these technologies. At the same time, scientists and researchers such as Yan Zhilin from the Chinese startup Moonshot AI were creating models that attracted enormous attention from the global community and, in some cases, outpaced the most advanced developments of their U.S. competitors.
In parallel, a large-scale coalition of politicians and civil society activists is forming, including Senator Bernie Sanders, labor leader Liz Schuler, and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who are publicly warning of the potential threats posed by such transformations. As Bernie Sanders stated in a comment to TIME, the main takeaway is the need to halt the development of superintelligence.
Aisha Javed oversaw the selection process for this year’s list. For many months, she worked with TIME journalists and writers to compile a list of 100 individuals who most fully embody the year’s major events and, in the editorial team’s view, have the greatest influence on the industry’s development.
Along with the publication of the list, the editorial team offers an unprecedented analysis of the internal processes at OpenAI, whose 2022 release of ChatGPT sparked global enthusiasm for the technology’s capabilities. For a time, it seemed that this AI research organization was losing ground and momentum. Based on dozens of interviews with the company’s leadership, we were able to determine how they plan to regain their former momentum.
The development of the TIME100 AI project is part of TIME’s broader strategy, which is to be a leader in the media industry in covering the global transformation of the world driven by AI. In recent years, the publication’s international team of correspondents, editors, and producers has provided readers with exclusive access to the inner workings of organizations such as Anthropic, Google, NVIDIA, and Waymo. Journalists have published stories on robotics, offering a glimpse into what the next wave of automation might look like, and have covered the global boom in data center construction and the associated political resistance – from a remote valley above the Arctic Circle in Norway to local communities in Tennessee and Texas. Last December, the publication named the “Architects of AI” as its “Person of the Year,” reaffirming the media outlet’s commitment to providing in-depth coverage of the leaders who are shaping this technology and defining its significance for society.
Next year, building on the success of AI events held in Davos (Switzerland), Cannes (France), New York, and San Francisco, the magazine will launch its first TIME100 AI Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C. Additional opportunities are also being explored to organize international meetings featuring the world’s most influential leaders in the AI industry.
These efforts reflect TIME’s commitment to covering the most important story of our time with the appropriate level of scale – across all available platforms – while ensuring transparency, accountability, and rigorous analysis of both the opportunities and threats posed by AI.