What Happened?
Mark Zuckerberg stated during Meta’s earnings call that the mainstream interaction with AI in the future will be through smart glasses. People who do not wear such devices will fall behind cognitively and be at a disadvantage. He believes that smart glasses will allow AI to “see and hear” in real-time, enhancing everyday assistance.
Meta is aggressively positioning itself in the AI glasses market, launching smart glasses in collaboration with Ray-Ban and Oakley, featuring voice assistants, photography, and video capabilities, achieving impressive sales results. Despite Reality Labs accumulating losses nearing $70 billion, Meta still views it as a key future bet.
The competition in AI devices is fierce, with OpenAI entering the consumer device market through the acquisition of Jony Ive’s startup. Zuckerberg insists that glasses are the best medium for integrating digital and physical experiences, while also aggressively recruiting AI talent with the intention of leading an AI revolution.
Will People Without AI Glasses Be at a “Cognitive Disadvantage”?
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that the primary way humans will interact with AI in the future will no longer be through smartphones or computers, but through “AI glasses.” He even predicts that individuals without AI glasses will fall behind others cognitively and become the weaker party.
This comment was made during Meta’s Q2 2025 earnings call, where Zuckerberg emphasized, “I still believe that glasses will be the ideal carrier for AI, because they can see what you see, hear what you hear, and have a continuous conversation with you.” He pointed out that adding display features, like the Orion AR glasses Meta plans to launch in the future, will create even greater value.
He stated plainly, “In the future, if you don’t have glasses or related devices to interact with AI, you will likely have a significant cognitive gap compared to others.” In recent years, Meta has invested heavily in its Reality Labs division to actively develop smart glasses and AR devices, with the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses being one of the most talked-about products on the market.
Meta’s Strategy and Ambitions
Meta’s current smart glasses offerings include the Ray-Ban Meta in collaboration with Ray-Ban and a recent co-branded version with sports lifestyle brand Oakley. These glasses feature photography, video recording, music playback, and voice assistant capabilities, allowing users to directly ask Meta AI what it sees at the moment.
According to data from eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica, sales of Ray-Ban Meta glasses have far exceeded expectations, growing more than threefold year-over-year, which has also contributed to nearly 5% revenue growth for Meta’s Reality Labs division this quarter.
However, Reality Labs remains Meta’s largest money-losing unit, with losses reaching $4.53 billion this quarter, bringing total losses since 2020 close to $70 billion.
Meta’s current smart glasses offerings include the Ray-Ban Meta in collaboration with Ray-Ban and a recent co-branded version with sports lifestyle brand Oakley.
Meta is not the only tech company optimistic about AI devices. This year, OpenAI acquired Jony Ive’s startup for a valuation of up to $6.5 billion, aiming to create “a new generation of consumer devices for interacting with AI.” Other startups are also actively exploring this field, such as Humane’s AI pin (which ultimately failed) and AI necklaces developed by startups like Limitless and Friend.
But in Zuckerberg’s view, glasses remain the most reasonable choice as he believes they are the best medium for merging the digital and physical worlds.
To gain an advantage in the AI competition, Meta has been aggressively engaged in a talent war in recent years. According to financial reports, Meta invested $15 billion in the AI startup Scale AI, bringing its CEO Alexandr Wang into the company team, and successfully poached at least four employees from OpenAI, including one who is a co-creator of ChatGPT.
Will glasses become the ultimate device of the AI era? The answer remains to be seen, but it is certain that in this arms race for AI devices, Meta hopes to lead the way once again, just as Facebook redefined social platforms in the past; now it aims to redefine the relationship between people and technology through AI glasses.
Source: TechCrunch, Business Insider