--- description: Find out why Henna Virkkunen made TIME’s list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence. title: TIME100 AI 2025: Henna Virkkunen image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda5180f7c431086c/6998c928d32e930221cd7442/Henna-Virkkunen-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 26, 2025 # Henna Virkkunen Executive Vice President for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy, European Commission by [Harry Booth](/author/harry-booth/) ## Harry Booth Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Booth is a reporter at TIME.  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Photo: John Thys—Pool/AP) While Europe has lagged behind the U.S. and China in AI development, it has led the world in one crucial regard: regulation. With the E.U. AI Act, which came into force last year, the union became the first global power to pass comprehensive regulation governing the technology. But Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s technology chief, is determined to show that Europe can be more than a rule-maker. In April, she unveiled Europe’s [plan](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip%5F25%5F1013 "undefined") to become “a leading AI continent,” which calls for simplifying the very rules that defined its regulatory role. Virkkunen has promised to cut red tape, leading efforts to streamline compliance through a voluntary code of practice. Finalized in July, the code has won backing from most major AI companies—including OpenAI, Google, and European front-runner Mistral AI. Virkkunen's strategy also involves giving European researchers the raw computing power to compete, calling for the construction of five AI “gigafactories” each containing more than 100,000 AI chips, cultivating talent through AI fellowships, and creating high-quality public datasets for training. A marathon runner in her spare time, Virkkunen takes the long view of AI development. "The global race for AI is far from over," she said in a statement accompanying the plan. Henna Virkkunen: The 100 Most Influential People in AI 2025 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2025/7305860/henna-virkkunen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2025/7305860/henna-virkkunen/"},"headline":"Henna Virkkunen","datePublished":"2025-08-26T18:57:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T11:54:43.940Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2025/7305860/henna-virkkunen/","keywords":["Tech","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","TIME100 AI 2025"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda5180f7c431086c/6998c928d32e930221cd7442/Henna-Virkkunen-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Harry Booth","jobTitle":"Booth is a reporter at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/harry-booth/"}],"creator":"Harry Booth","articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda5180f7c431086c/6998c928d32e930221cd7442/Henna-Virkkunen-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2025/7305860/henna-virkkunen/","name":"Henna Virkkunen"}}]}] ```