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- Make Your AI Images Look More Realistic With This Prompt 📸
Make Your AI Images Look More Realistic With This Prompt 📸
Meta Buys AI Startup Manus for More Than $2 Billion 💸
Gina Acosta
December 30, 2025
In partnership with
Welcome to another edition of Horizon AI,
One of the biggest giveaways of AI-generated images is how polished and perfect they look. In today’s issue, we’re sharing a simple ChatGPT prompt that adds natural lighting, tiny flaws, and an unpolished look to help AI images feel more realistic and less “AI-generated.”
Let’s jump into it!
Read Time: 4.5 min
Here's what's new today in the Horizon AI
Meta Buys AI Startup Manus, Adding Millions of Paying Users
AI Tutorial: ChatGPT 1.5 prompt to make images look more realistic
AI Tools to check out
AI Findings/Resources
The Latest in AI and Tech 💡
AI News
META
Meta Buys AI Startup Manus, Adding Millions of Paying Users
Meta has agreed to acquire Manus, a fast-growing AI startup known for its autonomous agents and rapid commercial success, in a deal reportedly worth $2 billion.
Details:
Manus is a Singapore-based AI startup with Chinese founders that gained attention last spring after releasing a demo showing AI agents handling tasks like job screening, travel planning, and stock analysis.
The company claimed its system outperformed OpenAI’s Deep Research, helping fuel rapid interest from investors and tech leaders.
Just weeks after launch, Benchmark led a $75 million funding round in April, valuing Manus at $500 million post-money. Other reported backers included Tencent, ZhenFund, and HSG.
Manus later said it signed up millions of users and surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue through paid subscriptions.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Meta agreed to acquire the company for around $2 billion, matching the valuation Manus was seeking for its next funding round.
Meta plans to keep Manus operating independently while integrating its AI agents into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, alongside Meta AI.
The deal comes as Meta faces investor scrutiny over its $60 billion AI infrastructure spending, making Manus notable as an AI product that’s already making money.
Meta has stated that following the acquisition, Manus will cut all ties to Chinese investors and "discontinue its services and operations in China.”
TOGETHER WITH ROKU
Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays
Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.
Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.
AI Tutorial
ChatGPT 1.5 prompt to make images look more realistic
Go to the ChatGPT and use this prompt:
1:1 aspect ratio (optional)
Raw Realistic candid natural amateur photo, background in focus, amateur candid photography, Captured on Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, amateur candid smartphone photography, 24mm lens, f/8, Boring reality, natural soft shadows, candid snapshot, flat natural lighting, Realism, low contrast, disposable camera vibe, casual photography, background also completely in focus, Tiny imperfections, everyday aesthetic, slight JPEG artifacts, unpolished look, unedited, imperfect amateur photo
only create real, non fictional images for max effectExample:
AI Tools to check out
⚡ Loki.Build: Create beautiful landing pages with AI in seconds.
📚 StudyPal: The #1 tool to learn anything 10x faster.
🤝 hq0: Host meetings on your website instead of Zoom or Google Meet.
📷 RemakePic: AI-powered product image remaking tool. Create unique, marketplace-compliant photos from supplier images.
📱 CyberCut: AI video studio for viral social clips
AI Findings/Resources
💸 Is ChatGPT Plus worth your $20? Here's how it compares to Free and Pro plans
🗣 3 new tricks to try with Google Gemini Live after its latest major upgrade
👉 “I spent a year interviewing and listening to over 50 tech leaders talk about AI. Here are the 4 biggest lessons.”
The latest in AI and Tech
The Japanese investment giant sent a final $22 billion to $22.5 billion last week after syndicating $10 billion and investing $8 billion in OpenAI.
This investment raises SoftBank’s stake in the company above 10% and reinforces Masayoshi Son’s strategy of making AI and supporting infrastructure, such as data centers, the core of SoftBank’s investment focus.
Andrej Karpathy says the speed of AI progress has left even experienced programmers struggling to keep up. He argues software development is being “refactored” around managing agents, prompts, memory, and tools rather than writing traditional code. Karpathy warned that today’s AI tools feel like “alien technology with no manual,” and that developers who fail to adapt risk falling behind.
Researchers using AI have solved a centuries-old challenge by uncovering hundreds of ancient Nazca geoglyphs hidden beneath the Peruvian desert. In just six months, a team from Yamagata University and IBM identified 303 new figures, doubling the number of known Nazca lines.
Trained on vast aerial and satellite imagery, the AI system detected faint shapes humans had missed for decades. The discoveries suggest many of the massive designs were ritual pathways tied to spiritual practices, offering fresh insight into the culture and beliefs of the Nazca civilization.
The rule isn’t public, but companies seeking state approval must show through procurement tenders that at least half their tools come from Chinese suppliers. The policy is a key step in Beijing’s drive for semiconductor self-sufficiency after U.S. export controls tightened in 2023.
That’s a wrap!
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Gina 👩🏻💻