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Here’s How to Create your Own Version of the ChatGPT ’80s Photo Trend that’s Everywhere 📸
China says AI CEOs' call for a slowdown is 'fear mongering' 😬
Gina Acosta
September 14, 2026
In partnership with
Welcome to another edition of Horizon AI,
A new 1980s AI photo trend is taking over social media. People are using ChatGPT to transform their everyday selfies into convincing retro portraits that look as though they were snapped decades ago.
Let’s jump into it!
Read Time: 4.5 min
Here's what's new today in the Horizon AI
China Dismisses AI Slowdown Calls, Blasts U.S. "Fearmongering"
Tensions Between OpenAI And Mathematicians Continue To Rise
AI Tutorial: How to create your own 1980s AI photo using ChatGPT
AI Tools to check out
AI Findings/Resources
The Latest in AI and Tech 💡
AI News
AI REGULATION
China Dismisses AI Slowdown Calls, Blasts U.S. "Fearmongering"
Beijing has pushed back against growing calls from U.S. tech leaders to slow the development of AI, accusing them of using fear to contain China's progress in the technology.
Details:
The remarks follow an essay by Anthropic's CEO calling for a slowdown in AI development, in which he also said that a "Chinese lead in AI would pose grave danger for the United States and the world."
China's foreign ministry urged all parties to "promote an open, inclusive and benevolent approach to AI," and said, "Fearmongering, confrontation and malicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance and serve no one's interests."
The state-run Global Times newspaper struck a more blunt tone, blasting the call for an industrywide slowdown as “packed with containment provisions targeting China and is, in essence, a ‘Cold War playbook’ for the AI sector.”
The U.S. and China are planning to discuss frontier AI safety risks in mid-September, and the issue could be raised during a summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on September 24.
Meanwhile, President Trump also weighed in, taking to Truth Social to dismiss concerns over extreme AI risks. He described critics as "very negative forces" raising scenarios that will not happen, called efforts to limit AI part of a "SICK conspiracy," and said he wants to ensure the United States remains the industry leader.
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OPENAI
Tensions Between OpenAI and Mathematicians Continue to Rise
OpenAI's push to solve major mathematical problems is creating growing tensions with researchers who say AI labs are moving too quickly and putting attribution, collaboration, and open research at risk.
Details:
The rift started after NYU professor Tristan Buckmaster accused OpenAI of pressuring him over credit for work involving an Anthropic researcher, and questioned whether OpenAI used related Codex work in its own Navier Stokes proof.
25 Fields Medal winners have now signed an open letter warning that AI labs are threatening mathematical research as they compete to solve famous problems.
On Thursday, OpenAI withdrew its sponsorship of a math event at Caltech following criticism from researchers at the university.
The mathematicians argue that proofs generated by AI need to be properly verified, explained, documented, and connected to previous work before they can become part of the mathematical canon.
Mathematicians now fear that using Codex could feed their work straight back into OpenAI's models, letting frontier labs spend millions racing to beat them to a proof, a dynamic that will incentivize secrecy over open research.
They say the value in math isn't just the proofs and who gets credit, but the intellectual superstructure that nourishes students, finds new questions and ideas, and integrates them into broader human civilization. The broader issue extends beyond mathematics, as they see AI as a general threat to intellectual work.
AI Tutorial
How to create your own 1980s AI photo using ChatGPT
Open ChatGPT and sign in.
Upload your photo.
Paste this prompt:
Transform my uploaded photograph into a realistic 1980s portrait. Keep my facial identity, facial structure, natural skin tone and recognisable features intact. Give me an authentic 1980s hairstyle, period-appropriate clothing and accessories. Use warm studio lighting, subtle analogue film grain, slightly faded colours and soft photographic imperfections. Make it look like a real photograph taken on a film camera in the 1980s rather than a modern photograph with a vintage filter.
You can tweak the prompt further if you're looking for a specific look.
Once the image is generated, download, share, or further edit it.
You can change the hairstyle or outfit, add jewellery, replace the background, adjust the lighting, etc.
AI Tools to check out
⭐ Muse: Meta’s personal AI agent that proactively helps people meet their goals and suggests ideas.
👉 Diio: It analyzes your conversations and helps you prioritize, move quickly and make better decisions.
📈 Minara Harness: An agent environment that brings financial research and execution into the same workspace.
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AI Findings/Resources
🧠 The cognitive revolution (when machines do the thinking)
👀 This developer used GPT-6 Astra to create a 3D website that pulls apart the male anatomy into 2,234 modeled pieces
🧬 Google DeepMind launched AlphaGenome Atlas, an AI-powered searchable database mapping the predicted impact of all 9 billion possible single-letter DNA changes.
The latest in AI and Tech
ChatGPT Sites now lets multiple people edit, save and publish the same Site through a new Build Together feature, while private sharing allows access to specific collaborators. OpenAI has also roughly halved deployment times and added database inspection and custom domain support.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has confirmed that the company will not go public this year, saying an IPO would be “ill advised”. He said OpenAI wants to focus on addressing safety challenges and working with governments and other AI companies before pursuing a public listing.
OpenAI is launching GPT‑Live‑1 in the API, giving developers a powerful, natural voice model for building voice-enabled apps and business workflows.
That’s a wrap!
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Gina 👩🏻💻