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- Generate a TIME-Style Black-and-White Editorial Headshot with AI 📸
Generate a TIME-Style Black-and-White Editorial Headshot with AI 📸
OpenAI Takes Apple Lawsuit to Court of Public Opinion, Posts Texts 🤯
Gina Acosta
August 04, 2026
In partnership with
Welcome to another edition of Horizon AI,
In today's issue, we're sharing a prompt that lets you generate headshots in the style of Marco Grob's iconic TIME cover portraits. Just upload a photo, run the prompt, and in a few minutes you'll have a striking black-and-white headshot ready to go.
Let’s jump into it!
Read Time: 4.5 min
Here's what's new today in the Horizon AI
OpenAI Pushes Back Against Apple's Trade Secrets Lawsuit
World Bank Urges Developing Countries to Embrace AI
AI Tutorial: Create a Professional Black-and-White Headshot With AI
AI Tools to check out
AI Findings/Resources
The Latest in AI and Tech 💡
AI News
OPENAI
OpenAI Pushes Back Against Apple's Trade Secrets Lawsuit
OpenAI has publicly responded to Apple's lawsuit, which accuses the company of benefiting from confidential information brought by former Apple employees, publishing message exchanges as evidence that 'Apple is getting this wrong.'
Details:
OpenAI published a blog post disputing Apple's claims, saying it does not possess or want Apple's trade secrets and calling the lawsuit "careless" and unnecessary.
The company released emails and iMessage exchanges that it says contradict key parts of Apple's allegations involving former Apple executives Chang Liu and Tang Tan, who now work at OpenAI.
Apple alleges Liu accessed confidential company information after leaving the company. OpenAI argues that Apple employees actually reached out to him and asked for his help locating this information, and that the 'residual access' resulted from Apple 'failing to properly manage system access when people leave.'
Apple also claims Tan encouraged job candidates to share confidential Apple information during interviews. OpenAI denies this, saying Tan 'has always been clear with the team that we do not want, and must not use, any confidential information from other companies.'
OpenAI also refuted allegations that it didn’t respond to Apple’s initial inquiries, saying that Apple “now admit that their outside lawyers emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names,” and admitted it never actually spoke with OpenAI's General Counsel. You can read the full emails and messages on OpenAI's blog.
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WORLD BANK
World Bank Urges Developing Countries to Embrace AI
The World Bank says developing countries should accelerate AI adoption or risk falling further behind, arguing that affordable AI tools could improve public services and boost economic growth.
Details:
The World Bank says developing economies do not need massive AI models or expensive data centers to benefit from AI, encouraging the use of smaller, locally adapted solutions.
The report highlights AI's potential to improve healthcare, education, agriculture, and public services, helping expand access to essential services more quickly and at lower cost.
It recommends investing in electricity infrastructure, computing capacity, and local data, while adapting AI systems to regional languages and local needs.
The organization also warns that governments must address privacy, bias, and public trust, noting that poorly implemented AI could increase inequality and weaken confidence in public institutions.
At the same time, the report cautions that AI could widen economic gaps between countries and eventually reduce opportunities for some middle-income jobs if governments fail to prepare.
AI Tutorial
Create a Professional Black-and-White Headshot With AI
Go to the Gemini app, select "Create image."
Upload a solid, high-res, well-lit reference image and paste this prompt:
For men:
Goal: Transform the attached photo into a professional black-and-white studio headshot in the style of a Marco Grob editorial monochrome portrait, the TIME magazine cover aesthetic: simple, psychologically intense, character-first.
Subject & identity: The man in the reference image. Keep his exact facial features, facial structure, skin tone, eye color, hair, and hairline completely unchanged — same age, same build, instantly recognizable to people who know him. Change only the framing, lighting, background, wardrobe, and tonal grade.
Composition & camera: Classic head-and-shoulders crop, chest-up, his eyes in the upper third of the frame, centered composition with a small margin above his head. Body squared to camera or turned 10-20 degrees, shoulders relaxed and level, head straight into the lens, chin neutral. Hasselblad medium-format look: short-telephoto perspective (about 100mm equivalent), no wide-angle distortion, extremely shallow but controlled depth of field — both eyes critically sharp, background fully defocused, smooth medium-format tonal transitions.
Lighting: Single large 5-foot softbox slightly above his eye level and 30-45 degrees to one side — soft but clearly directional, sculpting a gentle Rembrandt-style shadow on the far cheek with a gradual edge. One soft rectangular catchlight in the upper half of each eye. Subtle silver-reflector fill from the opposite side: shadows keep detail with a faint specular crispness, never flat. Ambient reads slightly underexposed so he pops from the frame (lit but not over-lit). Only a slight whisper of edge separation from the backdrop.
Background: Seamless studio gray, graduating from mid-gray behind his head to near-black at the frame edges with a natural falloff vignette. Smooth and empty, no props, texture, or scene.
Expression & mood: Direct, unwavering eye contact: alert, present eyes carry the portrait. Composed and quietly intense, mouth relaxed and closed, subtly smiling at the corners. Gravitas and self-possession; keep his natural optimistic micro-expression rather than a generic pleasant mask.
Wardrobe: A dark, well-fitted crew-neck sweater, wool texture in charcoal, black, or deep navy that reads as distinct dark tones in monochrome. No patterns, logos, tie, or crisp corporate suit.
Style & grade: Photorealistic editorial photograph in high-contrast neutral black and white: deep clean blacks, rich midtone separation across his face, controlled bright highlights, texture held in both shadows and highlights. Skin mapped to luminous, finely graded grays with visible pores, expression lines, and stubble... character over polish, minimal retouching only (stray hairs, temporary blemishes). Pure monochrome: no sepia, split-toning, or faded matte look.
Constraints: Do not alter his identity, age, or facial proportions. No beauty-filter smoothing or plastic skin, no reshaped features, no whitened teeth, no symmetry correction. No text, logos, or watermarks. Avoid AI-portrait tells: waxy skin, dead eyes, fused hair strands, over-sharpened halos.
Output: High-resolution vertical black-and-white portrait, 4:5 crop.For women:
Goal: Transform the attached photo into a professional black-and-white studio headshot of a woman, in the style of Marco Grob's editorial monochrome portraits of women for TIME magazine covers: simple, elegant, psychologically present, character-first.
Subject & identity: The woman in the reference image — she must read unmistakably as a woman in the final image. Keep her exact facial features, feminine facial structure, skin tone, eye color, hairstyle, hair length, and hairline completely unchanged — same age, same build, instantly recognizable to people who know her. Keep her makeup exactly as it appears in the reference photo; do not add or remove any. Change only the framing, lighting, background, wardrobe, and tonal grade.
Composition & camera: Classic head-and-shoulders crop, chest-up, her eyes in the upper third of the frame, centered composition with a small margin above her head. Body squared to camera or turned 10-20 degrees, shoulders relaxed and level, head straight into the lens, chin neutral. Hasselblad medium-format look: short-telephoto perspective (about 100mm equivalent), no wide-angle distortion, shallow but controlled depth of field — both eyes critically sharp, background fully defocused, smooth medium-format tonal transitions.
Lighting: Single large 5-foot softbox slightly above her eye level and 30-45 degrees to one side — soft, flattering, clearly directional, with a gentle, open shadow on the far cheek that keeps her face luminous; never heavy, hard-edged, or angular. One soft rectangular catchlight in the upper half of each eye. Subtle silver-reflector fill from the opposite side: shadows keep detail with a faint specular crispness, never flat. Ambient reads slightly underexposed so she pops from the frame (lit but not over-lit). Only a slight whisper of edge separation from the backdrop.
Background: Seamless studio gray, graduating from mid-gray behind her head to near-black at the frame edges with a natural falloff vignette. Smooth and empty, no props, texture, or scene.
Expression & mood: Direct, unwavering eye contact: alert, present eyes carry the portrait. Composed and self-assured, mouth relaxed and closed but smiling. Poise, warmth, and quiet confidence; keep her natural micro-expression rather than a generic pleasant mask.
Wardrobe: An elegant, dark, well-fitted top with a feminine cut. Soft wool texture in charcoal, black, or deep navy that reads as distinct dark tones in monochrome. No patterns or logos.
Style & grade: Photorealistic editorial photograph in high-contrast neutral black and white: deep clean blacks, rich midtone separation across her face, controlled bright highlights, texture held in both shadows and highlights. Her skin mapped to luminous, finely graded grays with natural texture preserved — character over polish, minimal retouching only (stray hairs, temporary blemishes). Pure monochrome: no sepia, split-toning, or faded matte look.
Constraints: Do not alter her identity, age, or facial proportions, and do not masculinize her in any way: no squared or broadened jaw, no heavier brow, no thickened neck, no shortened hair, no stubble or shadow that reads as facial hair. No beauty-filter smoothing or plastic skin, no reshaped features, no whitened teeth, no symmetry correction. No text, logos, or watermarks. Avoid AI-portrait tells: waxy skin, dead eyes, fused hair strands, over-sharpened halos.
Output: High-resolution vertical black-and-white portrait of the woman in the reference image, 4:5 crop.You might need to regenerate 2-3 times.
AI Tools to check out
✍ Grammarly: Write confidently with AI-powered grammar, rewrite, and proofreading tools.
🛠️ Reclip: AI-powered creator toolkit. Automatically clip the best moments, add voiceovers, remove captions, and download videos — all in one platform.
🎞️ Media.io: Create videos, images, and music with AI in one online studio.
📈 Katalyst: The AI sales agent for teams on Salesforce.
👉 Frontpage: Landing pages, built by conversation.
TOGETHER WITH Q3 ADVISORS
The Tax Trap Waiting for Surviving Spouses
When one spouse dies, the survivor keeps the income but loses half the deduction — and files single. The tax hit is large, and preventable. Roth Conversion Reset by Craig Wear, CFP®, shows IRA Millionaires how to solve it while rates are low. Free, delivered instantly.
AI Findings/Resources
💡 Your AI agent can be a teammate. But it still needs a boss
⚠️ What OpenAI’s Hugging Face hack tells us about AI’s risks
The latest in AI and Tech
The company's DeepSeek-V4-Flash offers cut-throat pricing, charging about 28 cents for the same amount of output that costs $25 on Opus 4.8, while offering performance close to its level on tests of complex coding and autonomous software tasks.
OpenAI's ChatGPT accounted for nearly 90% of congressional spending on AI tools over the past year, according to House disbursement records analyzed by CNBC. Congress spent about $100,580 on ChatGPT across 798 transactions, compared with $13,160 spent on Anthropic's Claude.
Snapchat will no longer recommend or reward fully AI-generated videos in Spotlight, instead prioritizing content created by real people. The company says 'this is not about rejecting AI,' as creators will still be able to use AI tools to enhance or edit their posts, and these will continue to be eligible for recommendation.
The European Commission has launched a call for proposals to build up to seven AI gigafactories across Europe, aiming to strengthen the region's AI infrastructure and reduce reliance on foreign cloud and chip providers.
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Gina 👩🏻💻