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Young Visionaries/ “The Times” announces the most influential figures in AI, Sam Altman leads
2025-09-01 22:19:39 / BOTA
TIME magazine this weekend published the third edition of its annual TIME100 AI list, a snapshot of the most influential people in the field of artificial intelligence.
This list was first introduced in 2023, shortly after the launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI, a moment that for many marked the full awareness of the power of AI to compete with, and even surpass, human capabilities.
The most powerful man in artificial intelligence is Sam Altman, who is not a decorated programmer. He doesn't have a college degree, let alone a doctorate in computer science, which is increasingly becoming a prerequisite in the field.
But what Sam Altman lacks in academic credentials, he makes up for with extraordinary negotiating skills, political acumen, and charisma. And that's not all. Because the challenges facing OpenAI in 2025 aren't just about writing the right code.
They require a leader who can navigate the political waves of Donald Trump's Washington, socialize with world leaders, manage the construction of giant data centers, and protect his authority from internal threats—all while overseeing a product launch schedule worthy of a tech company ten times the size of OpenAI. That Altman has managed all of this has made him more powerful as CEO now than at any time in OpenAI's history.
In January, rumors circulated in the AI world asking whether Trump's alliance with Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI but is in open conflict with Altman, would result in the ouster of OpenAI's CEO.
But Altman managed to maneuver against Musk, and two days into Trump's second term, it was he who appeared side by side with the president at the White House as he announced a $500 billion data center project that would hugely benefit OpenAI.
Trump’s AI strategy, announced in July, includes many provisions that OpenAI had previously advocated for. Today, Altman, a former Democrat who once spoke out against Trump, is widely considered a close and useful ally of the president. The same can no longer be said for Musk.
Altman has been equally active abroad. In May, he traveled with the presidential delegation to Saudi Arabia, where he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (OpenAI has since discussed raising funds from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, worth nearly $1 trillion, The Information reported. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.)
He has also spent time this year in the United Arab Emirates, where OpenAI announced plans to build other giant data centers — surprising some US national security experts, who have warned of the risks such a deal could bring.
One of the dominant events of artificial intelligence in 2025 has been the competition for humans.
Investors have poured hundreds of millions into startups, reflecting the perceived value of founders, while executives at major tech firms, such as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, have reportedly offered nine-figure deals to attract the most sought-after technologists.
These hires, accompanied by feverish rumors, have turned the once-uncharted competition for AI researchers into something more akin to the free market of professional sports. The importance of winning over the competition is so high that top researchers are being sought after as much as NBA stars. (Two of Zuckerberg’s most important hires, Alexandr Wang and Nat Friedman, join him on the TIME100 AI list for 2025.)
Since the TIME100 AI list began, spending on AI-related technologies has accelerated, becoming a major driver of the global economy. Whether this is for better or worse is too early to tell, but investment in computing equipment is growing nearly four times faster than GDP.
Computer scientist and 2025 honoree Stuart Russell estimates that the current planned spending could be 25 times the amount used for the Manhattan Project, even after accounting for inflation.
This is a historic capital disbursement, and decisions about how to spend it are being made by many of the individuals joining the TIME100 AI community this year, including SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, xAI founder Elon Musk, White House “AI czar” David Sacks, and EU representative Henna Virkkunen.
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