Jimmy Kimmel didn’t bother easing into the news.
The moment Time magazine’s 2025 Person of the Year cover hit the screen on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host went straight for the jugular.
The cover, which crowned a collective called the “Architects of AI,” became instant comedy fuel as Kimmel dramatically revealed it to his audience and braced himself for the reaction.
The response was loud, and not in a good way.
Boos echoed through the studio as Kimmel, 58, introduced the honorees and immediately slapped them with a nickname of his own, calling the group “the eight dorks of the apocalypse.”
Eight Tech Titans, One Very Unpopular Title
Reading from the cover, Kimmel listed the names at the center of the controversy: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, and five other heavyweights shaping the future of artificial intelligence.
According to Time, they collectively earned the Person of the Year title for their influence over a rapidly accelerating technology.
Kimmel paused as the audience made their feelings clear.
Pretending to be caught off guard, he joked that he’d been “expecting more enthusiasm,” before questioning Time’s glowing description of the group as “architects.”
“Is it normal,” he asked, “for an architect to have no idea how the thing they designed actually works—or whether it might one day try to kill them?”
Jokes Rooted in Real AI Anxiety
The monologue tapped into a broader unease that’s been simmering well beyond late-night TV. Kimmel pointed out the irony of celebrating the very people whose creations threaten to replace millions of workers.
“These are the people who replaced people,” he said, letting the contradiction hang in the air before the crowd erupted again.
A Cover That Looked Stuck in the Past
Kimmel wasn’t done. He had the producers pull the image back up so he could take another swing, this time at the artwork itself.
“For something about artificial intelligence,” he joked, “it looks like Photoshop from 2007.”
Time later explained that the illustration, created by digital painter Jason Seiler, was meant to echo the famous 1932 photo of construction workers perched on a steel beam high above New York City.
The magazine framed the image as a nod to builders of the modern age—only this time, the structure is digital.
Time’s Warning Beneath the Praise
While the cover celebrated innovation, Time’s accompanying essay struck a more cautious tone.
The magazine warned that AI’s growth is racing ahead at breakneck speed, with humanity hurtling toward an automated future full of uncertainty.
Referencing figures like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and other industry leaders, the piece compared the moment to flooring the gas pedal with no brakes in sight.
For context, Time’s previous Person of the Year went to President-elect Donald Trump for 2024, a reminder that controversy often comes baked into the title.
Old Wounds Reopened Between Kimmel and Musk
The segment also doubled as the latest chapter in Kimmel’s ongoing feud with Elon Musk.
Their public back-and-forth dates back to last year, when Musk labeled Kimmel an “insufferable nonsense propaganda puppet” on X after the comedian criticized Trump’s election victory.
Kimmel didn’t let that insult fade quietly.
He read it aloud on air the following night, joking that while the world’s richest man might hate him, “at least my kids like me.”
The line carried extra sting given Musk’s strained relationship with his transgender daughter, Vivian Wilson, who has openly criticized her father in the past.
Turning the Insult Into a Punchline
Kimmel leaned all the way in. He mocked the irony of Musk accusing anyone else of propaganda while owning a platform he described as “literally a propaganda machine.”
“If I spent two weeks trying to describe Elon Musk in four words,” Kimmel said, “I don’t think I could do better than ‘insufferable nonsense propaganda puppet.’”
Then came the twist. Kimmel revealed he’d planned to announce a new project in January—until Musk “ruined the surprise.”
A graphic popped up showing Kimmel as a literal puppet beside the project’s tongue-in-cheek title, Insufferable Nonsense Propaganda Puppet.
One Last Shot Before the Curtain Fell
To close out the segment, Kimmel pulled a quote from Donald Trump criticizing Musk’s reliance on government subsidies.
After reading it aloud, Kimmel added his own crude commentary, landing one final jab at both men.
With that, the moment wrapped the way it began: loud, biting, and unapologetically messy—exactly the kind of late-night skewering Kimmel’s audience has come to expect.
What’s Next?
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape everything from work to culture, it’s clear the conversation isn’t staying confined to tech conferences and think pieces.
For now, it’s just as likely to unfold under studio lights, with a joke, a jab, and a crowd ready to boo.
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