TIME100 AI 2026 influential figures list

TIME magazine released its 2026 TIME100 AI list, identifying 100 influential individuals across four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers, and Thinkers. The list recognizes those impacting the development, deployment, and regulation of artificial intelligence.

Key leaders identified include Sam Altman of OpenAI, Elon Musk of xAI, and Anthropic co-founders Dario and Daniela Amodei. Former OpenAI technology lead Mira Murati appears on the global cover. The honorees also include infrastructure and hardware contributors such as Larry Ellison of Oracle, Hock Tan of Broadcom, and Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra.

The 2026 selection highlights the technology’s expanding influence on culture, labor, and public policy. Notable inclusions feature figures from the creative sector, such as actor Ben Affleck, and advocates like Paris Hilton, who works against the unauthorized use of likenesses in deepfakes. The list also emphasizes global diversity, recognizing executives from China and India, as well as contributors in Africa and Brazil focused on AI safety, healthcare, and combating digital hate speech. Caltech professor Anima Anandkumar was also recognized for her work in AI for scientific discovery.

Notably, several major tech figures, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, and AMD CEO Lisa Su, were absent from this year’s list. This absence suggests a potential shift in how influence is measured, moving from technical infrastructure providers toward those driving cross-sector applications in entertainment, policy, and social media.