Newsweek announced its inaugural AI Impact Awards 2025, recognizing 38 companies across 13 categories for tackling everyday problems with innovative AI solutions. The awards highlight how artificial intelligence is moving beyond experimental applications into practical tools that address real-world challenges, from combating loneliness to streamlining business operations and establishing ethical frameworks.
What you should know: Five companies earned “Best Of” recognition for the most innovative AI technology or service, showcasing diverse applications across human interaction, content generation, and responsible AI implementation.
Key winners and their impact: Ex-Human won the Extraordinary Impact in AI Human Interactivity award for creating customizable AI companions designed to combat loneliness.
- The platform addresses a growing crisis where 30% of U.S. adults experience weekly loneliness, with Gen Z reporting 80% loneliness rates according to the U.S. Surgeon General.
- Users spend an average of 90 minutes daily interacting with AI companions, exchanging over 600 messages weekly.
- Ex-Human has raised over $3.7 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, a prominent venture capital firm, and projects 10 million users by early 2026.
What they’re saying: Ex-Human founder Artem Rodichev emphasized creating emotional connections that traditional AI lacks.
- “If you chat with ChatGPT, it doesn’t feel like you are chatting with your friend. You feel more like you’re chatting with Mr. Wikipedia,” Rodichev said.
- “A lot of these people struggle with social connections. They don’t have a lot of friends and they have social anxiety. By chatting with these companions, they can reduce the social anxiety, they can improve their mental health.”
Business applications: Fal.ai won the Extraordinary Impact in General Purpose AI Tool award for its developer-focused platform creating AI-generated audio, video, and images.
- The company focuses exclusively on B2B clients, with advertising, marketing, retail, and e-commerce as primary sectors.
- Co-founder Gorkem Yurtseven noted that “AI-generated ads are a very clear product-market fit. You can create unlimited versions of the same ad and test it to understand which ones perform better.”
Responsible AI leadership: EY, a global professional services company, received the Extraordinary Impact in AI Transparency award for developing a responsible AI framework compliant with the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act.
- The framework addresses the challenge that “the speed of technology and the speed of AI…is creating an environment where we have to be much more proactive,” according to EY’s global chief innovation officer Joe Depa.
- EY operates across 150 countries with 400,000 employees, giving them unique insight into varying global AI regulatory approaches.
The competitive landscape: Additional “Best Of” winners included Pharebio (Extraordinary Impact in AI Innovation) and Axon (Extraordinary Impact in Commercial Tool or Service), demonstrating AI’s expansion across healthcare and law enforcement sectors.
Looking ahead: Industry leaders see untapped potential in social media integration for AI-generated content, with Yurtseven noting that “a true social media app, at the largest scale, hasn’t been able to utilize this in a fun and engaging way.”
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