Time picked a rough day to announce its ‘Person of the Year’
Time picked a rough day to announce its ‘Person of the Year’
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Publish Date: 2026-01-29 08:48:00
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(Clockwise from top, left to right): OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, X CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. – AFP/Getty Images/Reuters
Time has announced that the “architects of AI” are its Person of the Year. Certainly, AI is wrapping up an extraordinary year, and many AI business executives have become household names.
But Time’s big annual event came on a lousy day for the industry.
Oracle (ORCL) shares are plummeting 14% in midday trading after the cloud computing giant reported massive AI-related expenses and a worse-than-expected outlook. That dragged the broader market lower, and just about every AI stock was set to sink Thursday.
A painting by Jason Seiler for TIME Person of the Year 2025. – Painting by Jason Seiler for TIME
Oracle’s stock has fallen by more than a third over the past several months after growing at a historic tear earlier in this year for its artificial intelligence prowess.
Worried investors fear that the AI spending boom may be due for a reality check. Oracle said its spending on AI will require a whopping $15 billion more than expected and it spent $10 billion during the most recent quarter. Investors are also concerned about its more than $100 billion in debt.
Chip makers Nvidia and AMD, as well as tech conglomerates Microsoft and Meta all fell Thursday. Coreweave (CRWV), an AI cloud computing startup, is down nearly 4%.
One bad day aside, however, AI is obviously having a stellar year. Also announced Thursday morning: Disney took a $1 billion stake in OpenAI and will license some of its most popular characters for use in its AI video generation tool, Sora.
An illustration by Peter Crowther for TIME Person of the Year 2025. – Illustration by Peter Crowther for TIME
On Time’s list is OpenAI’s Sam Altman, which Oracle is working with for a $500 billion project called Stargate that aims to grow AI infrastructure in the United States.
OpenAI is privately held but competitors, like Google and Anthropic, are quickly…
