As the curtain falls on TED2025: Humanity Reimagined, a week spent at the intersection of innovation and introspection comes into focus. This year’s conference wove together themes reflecting our complex, rapidly evolving world — from the awe-inspiring potential and sobering risks of artificial intelligence to nature-inspired solutions for the world’s most challenging problems. More than eighty speakers and performers challenged us to reimagine established systems, harness the power of community and navigate the delicate balance between technological progress and ethical responsibility. One final session on day 5 revealed how our collective wisdom and action have never been more crucial in shaping the future we want to see. Below, a few highlights:

The AI revolution is here to stay, says Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. In a probing conversation with head of TED Chris Anderson — now available to watch in full on TED’s YouTube channel — Altman discusses the astonishing growth of AI and shows how models like ChatGPT could eventually, over the course of our lifetimes, become extensions of ourselves. He also touches on the prospect of AGI — which won’t arrive in a singular moment, he says, but rather through a gradual evolution — and explores the rise of agentic AI, stressing the importance of designing guardrails to mitigate potential risk. He also addresses questions of safety, power and moral authority, reflecting on the world he envisions, where AI will almost certainly outpace human intelligence.