TIME Person of the Year 2026: Marco Rubio

A listed option will be considered TIME Person of the Year if they are explicitly named by TIME as TIME Person of the Year. Additionally, the following rules apply:

If multiple persons, concepts, groups, entities, or things are named TIME Person of the Year, each such named person, concept, group, entity, or thing will be considered TIME Person of the Year.

If the TIME Person of the Year is a non-human concept, group, entity, or thing, a listed person will still be considered to be TIME Person of the Year if the person is directly associated with the concept, group, entity or thing named TIME Person of the Year and is pictured on any official TIME Person of the Year cover. For example, in 2025 when TIME Person of the Year was Architects of AI, Contracts for Sam Altman would have settled to Yes, as Altman was associated with the concept and pictured on the cover. However, if Sam Altman were Person of the Year, and ChatGPT was shown on the cover, this would not qualify for ChatGPT because ChatGPT is not a person.

If the TIME Person of the Year is a specific concept, group, entity, or thing (e.g., artificial intelligence), listed non-human concepts, groups, entities, or things will be considered TIME Person of the Year only if they are synonymous with the announced TIME Person of the Year. For example, if ChatGPT were TIME Person of the Year, Contracts for AI or LLMs would not settle to Yes because, while they are conceptually linked, they are not synonymous.

If TIME uses language that does not refer to a specific, commonly-recognized, concept, group, entity, or thing (e.g., 2011s The Protester or 2017s The Silence Breakers), the TIME Person of the Year feature article will be used to determine the meaning of the language defining TIME Person of the Year. In such cases non-human concepts, groups, entities, or things will be considered TIME Person of the Year if they can be reasonably understood as equivalent to the meaning of the language used to define TIME Person of the Year. For example, Contracts for The Me Too Movement would have settled to Yes in 2017.