Thread by @WIRED

It's been said that hell is other people. Not in 2020. Right now, other people are the only thing between us and species collapse.

Introducing the WIRED25. Undeterred by disaster, these innovators are using tech to make things better for all of us 1/ wired.trib.al/dbP5tPQ

Ava DuVernay

DuVernay may be the most relevant director of 2020. Her body of work includes ‘Selma’, ‘When They See Us’, and '13th’, and this year she launched the online social justice course Array 101, as well as LEAP, a fund for artists whose work explores police violence 2/

Anthony Fauci

As director of NIAID since 1984, Fauci has advised six presidents on HIV, Ebola, Zika, and more. He’s been working 18 hours a day, seven days a week, since the beginning of February, and his integrity in the face of Covid-19 has made him an icon 3/

Vijaya Gadde

Gadde’s counseling Twitter through one of the most boundary-pushing US presidential races ever. This year, the platform began placing misinformation labels on high-profile tweets deemed capable of jeopardizing public safety or capsizing the democratic process 4/

Tsai Ing-wen, Chen Chien-Jen, and Audrey Tang

Together, this Taiwanese trio all but eradicated the coronavirus from their homeland. They did so through decisive actions, strict social distancing measures, and real-time mask availability apps 5/

Jon Gray, Lester Walker, and Pierre Serao

In the midst of a pandemic and protests, this Bronx-based collective partnered with La Morada, a local Oaxacan restaurant, and Rethink, a nonprofit that redirects excess food to NYC families. Together, they’ve served 1,000 meals a day 6/

Swizz Beatz and Timbaland

In March, the megaproducers got a concert-starved nation on its feet by streaming Verzuz’s inaugural hip hop and R&B battle on Instagram. The free face-offs are now on Apple TV, and the pair see it as a sort of museum for Black musicians everywhere 7/

Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook

In the wake of a devastating pandemic, Pichai and Cook overlooked their rivalry to unite Google and Apple for the greater good. Their Covid-19 contact tracing API has been integrated into health care sector apps around the world 8/

Timnit Gebru

Gebru's research has spotlighted racist algorithms and the ethical quandaries of data-mining projects and AI. In a January paper, she argued that current methods of data collection and annotation for machine learning are rife with biases capable of causing harm 9/

Al Gore

The truth is increasingly inconvenient: Earth is getting hotter, and we’re to blame. Gore is still working to fix it—by funding sustainable companies through the equity firm Generation Investment Management and educating the masses with the Climate Reality Project 10/

This is just a portion of the WIRED25. Here’s our full list of innovators across tech, science, food, culture, and politics 11/ wired.trib.al/dbP5tPQ

Want to meet some of the WIRED25? We’re hosting a series of free virtual conversations with them starting next week. Subscribe here to attend the talks taking place September 16, 23, and 30 12/ wired.trib.al/5raf3Eb