Leaders, innovators. and visionaries from the world of artificial intelligence gathered at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco on Monday night for the second annual TIME100 AI Impact Dinner to explore and discuss the far-reaching impact of artificial intelligence on business and society.
The event is dedicated to the third annual AI TIME100 listwhich features the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence.
This year's list includes 84 new honorees – a testament to the dynamism of the field – with those selected ranging in age from 15 to almost 80 years old. The purpose of the TIME list is to show that it is people, not machines, that will shape the direction of AI, and the honorees were chosen from all corners of the discipline.
The event culminated with four toasts from the 2025 TIME100 AI Prize winners, who emphasized the importance of responsible AI governance, including through regulation; protection of human creativity; and promoting collaboration between human and machine intelligence.
Focus on humanity first
Stuart Russellprofessor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley and co-founder of the International Association for Secure and Ethical AI (IASEAI), offered the first toast—a provocative call to make wise choices about how we use AI given the high existential stakes.
Russell, who has long warned that creating artificial intelligence systems smarter than humans when we don't know how to reliably control them could destroy civilization, called it a “disturbing truth” that we have “no idea” where large language models (LLMs) will take us.
“[LLMs] trained to imitate people. However, we suspect that they absorb human-like targets. … [But] this is a fundamental flaw,” he said, adding that we need to “face up to the possibility that not only is the bus of humanity heading towards a cliff, but it is missing a steering wheel and the driver is blindfolded.”
However, he tempered the gloom with some optimism, noting that it is possible, “if we decide to open our eyes and act together,” to change direction. “We can create artificial intelligence systems whose sole purpose is to serve the interests of people,” he said. He mused that if beneficial coexistence between humanity and more advanced AI systems proves impossible, he hopes that the smartest and most well-designed AI systems will recognize this and step back gracefully, “allowing us to shape our own future.” He concluded by raising a glass to “a better future created by and for humanity, with or without artificial intelligence.”
Promote without stifling creativity
Shrivastava roosterCEO of the music sampling market Splice, gave the following toast, in which he paid tribute to human creativity and emphasized the importance of technologies that enable rather than limit it. Srivastava spoke about her personal journey of coming to America when she was eight years old and how she has spent her career serving the needs of creative people, with her work at Splice now “empowering music creators,” including through the use of artificial intelligence tools. “We also know that a world without art is dangerous,” she said.
She further emphasized that creativity today is “under attack” on several fronts: from a society that still “underestimates the artist”; to social networks, which “absorb our attention and leave little time for the introspection necessary for art”; to some forms of AI that “treat artistic work as the basis for faceless learning models.”
Srivastava urged those “developing tools for tomorrow” to make sure they give creative people choices and avenues to explore. “AI tools should put creators and their creative process first,” she said. She concluded by raising a glass to the “quiet, difficult work of human creativity” and how it continues to be celebrated.
Collaboration for greater connection
The next toast was given by Refik Anadolmedia artist, co-founder of Dataland, a museum dedicated to the art of artificial intelligence, and behind the creation Cover of AI 2025 TIME100. Anadol praised the potential of collaboration with AI to help us understand and experience the world in new ways.
He began by turning back time to the first image of a man on a cave wall and what that gesture meant as an act of memory, imagination and hope. He then drew a parallel to what he tries to do in his work today, just with data-driven experiences. “When I think about the future of artificial intelligence, I see a new form of collaboration between human creativity and machine intelligence that can help us understand our world in a more profound and connected way,” he said.
He explained how AI allows us to, for example, “listen to the patterns of nature” and helps us transform complexity into feelings. “It can turn data into something that we care deeply about because every data set is a record of a life,” he said, emphasizing the importance of creating AI with consent, trust and care. He concluded by raising a glass to intelligence—both human and artificial—which “helps us experience the world as connected, beautiful, and full of wonder.”
Request for Thought
The final toast of the evening came from Natasha Lyonneactress and co-founder of Asteria Film Co. Lyonne used her toast to encourage those in attendance to do much more to curb artificial intelligence.
She explained how she came to “a measure of concern about the possibility of a collective fall into the world of AI without clear guardrails and open eyes.” Addressing an audience of what she called “winners,” she called on AI leaders to “responsibly re-evaluate” their own motivations and the industry's influence and direction.
“For reasons unknown, we have voluntarily submitted to a total surveillance state, abolished all copyright laws, consented to data theft for the sake of illusory convenience, and, perhaps most egregiously, allowed massive and irresponsible data collection in our working communities that poses a clear and present threat to our environment and society. What are we doing, friends?” Lyonne lamented. “You don't have to be so ruthless towards your own kind, guys.”
Still, she felt that the bus could be turned around. “I believe we can achieve some grace here if we unite around our common humanity,” she said. “An optimist? In this economy? In this regime? And yet, I humbly stand before you, wanting to believe.”
TIME100 Dinner: Leaders Shaping the Future of Artificial Intelligence, presented by PepsiCo, Cowlant, General Catalyst, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
