Time Magazine Releases 2026 List of 100 Most Influential People in AI
Time Magazine has released its fourth annual list of the 100 most influential people in AI for 2026. The list features prominent global figures like Sam Altman and Elon Musk, alongside Chinese tech leaders such as Alibaba's Wu Yongming and Moonshot AI's Yang Zhilin. This list underscores the global nature of the AI race, highlighting the significant contributions and rising influence of Chinese executives, researchers, and entrepreneurs alongside Western tech giants. The selected Chinese figures represent a wide range of sectors, including generative AI startups (Zhipu AI, Moonshot AI), semiconductor manufacturing (SMIC, Huawei), humanoid robotics (Agibot), and electric vehicles (BYD).
## BACKGROUND
Time's AI 100 list recognizes individuals driving AI innovation, policy, and ethics globally. Chinese startups like Moonshot AI (developer of the Kimi assistant) and Zhipu AI have emerged as key players in the large language model space, while Agibot is a prominent developer of humanoid robots.