Time picked a rough day to announce its ‘Person of the Year’
By Jordan Valinsky, CNN
New York (CNN) — 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.
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.
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 catching up to ChatGPT’s power.
Time said that this was the year AI’s “full potential roared into view, and when it became clear that there will be no turning back or opting out,” noting that it’s touching all aspects of our lives from the economy to schooling.
The magazine is releasing two covers, with one featuring the letters under construction and another a nod to the classic 1932 “Lunch atop a Skyscraper’ image with tech titans from the AI on it, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, xAI’s Elon Musk and AMD’s Lisa Su, among others.
This tradition from Time began in 1927 as “Man of the Year” and has since changed to not only recognize an individual, but also to consider the impact of a group, movement or idea that had the most influence in the past year.
Previous honorees include President Donald Trump (twice), Taylor Swift, Elon Musk and the infamous you cover in 2006.
The-CNN-Wire
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