Hold onto your hats, because Jimmy Kimmel just unleashed a fiery takedown of Time magazine’s 2025 Person of the Year cover—and it’s a doozy. But here’s where it gets controversial: the cover, which dubs eight tech CEOs the 'Architects of AI,' has Kimmel calling them 'the eight dorks of the apocalypse.' Yes, you read that right. And this is the part most people miss—Kimmel didn’t just stop at mocking the winners; he roasted the cover’s design, quipping it looks like 'Photoshop from 2007.' Ouch.
On Thursday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the late-night host dramatically unveiled the cover, featuring tech titans like Elon Musk (xAI), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), and five others: Lisa Su (AMD), Jensen Huang (Nvidia), Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind), Dario Amodei (Anthropic), and Fei-Fei Li (Stanford and World Labs). Kimmel’s audience booed at the reveal, but he wasn’t done. 'Expecting more enthusiasm,' he joked before diving deeper into his critique.
Here’s the bold question Kimmel posed: 'They call them architects. But is it normal for an architect to have no clue how their building works—or if it’ll one day try to kill them?' It’s a thought-provoking jab at the irony of these AI pioneers, who are often criticized for creating technology that could replace human jobs. Kimmel didn’t hold back, calling them 'the people who replaced people'—a biting commentary on their Person of the Year win.
But let’s talk about the cover art. Kimmel insisted producers put it back on screen so he could continue his roast. 'Ironically, with all AI can do graphically, this looks like it was made in 2007,' he snarked. According to Time, the artwork by digital painter Jason Seiler pays homage to the iconic 1932 photo of construction workers on a steel beam above New York City. But Kimmel’s take? It’s a miss.
AI is reshaping the world at breakneck speed, and Time’s cover reflects that—though not in the way Kimmel appreciates. The magazine writes, 'Thanks to Huang, [SoftBank’s Masayoshi] Son, Altman, and other AI titans, humanity is flying down the highway, all gas no brakes, toward a highly automated and highly uncertain future.' It’s a bold statement, but Kimmel’s response raises a bigger question: Are we celebrating the right people—or should we be more cautious about where this road is taking us?
Here’s the controversial counterpoint: While Time applauds these CEOs as visionaries, Kimmel’s critique echoes a growing unease about AI’s unchecked rise. Are these 'architects' truly in control, or are they building something they can’t fully understand? And should we be cheering them on, or demanding more accountability?
Last year, Time named then-President-elect Donald Trump as Person of the Year, sparking its own wave of debate. But this year’s choice feels even more polarizing. What do you think? Is Kimmel’s takedown fair, or is he missing the bigger picture? Let’s hear it in the comments—agree or disagree, this conversation is just getting started.
