Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says AI glasses will be essential in the future. Without them, he warned on Meta’s Q2 earnings call, people could face a “significant cognitive disadvantage.”
Zuckerberg calls glasses the “ideal form factor for AI.” He pointed to features like AI seeing and hearing everything you do, plus delivering info right to your eyes. Meta’s next-gen Orion AR glasses will push a wider, holographic display, while other AI eyewear might go with smaller screens.
“I continue to think that glasses are basically going to be the ideal form factor for AI, because you can let an AI see what you see throughout the day, hear what you hear, [and] talk to you,” Zuckerberg said.
“I think in the future, if you don’t have glasses that have AI — or some way to interact with AI — I think you’re … probably [going to] be at a pretty significant cognitive disadvantage compared to other people.”
Meta’s already rolling with smart glasses like Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta. These let you listen to music, snap pics or videos, and chat with Meta AI about what you’re seeing. Ray-Ban Meta sales tripled year-over-year, according to EssilorLuxottica.
Reality Labs, Meta’s AR and VR division, is where these glasses come from. It just posted a $4.53 billion operating loss in Q2 and has lost nearly $70 billion since 2020. Zuckerberg is pushing AI glasses as that unit’s future.
He also says glasses will merge the physical and digital worlds, tying into the Metaverse vision that AI will speed up.
“The other thing that’s awesome about glasses is they are going to be the ideal way to blend the physical and digital worlds together,” Zuckerberg added.
“So the whole Metaverse vision, I think, is going to … end up being extremely important, too, and AI is going to accelerate that.”
Meta isn’t alone in betting on new AI devices — OpenAI bought Jony Ive’s startup for $6.5 billion to make consumer AI hardware. Startups like Limitless and Friend are testing AI pendants. Humane’s AI pin flopped.
For now, glasses might make the most sense because lots of people already wear them, and they’re less weird socially. But the next big device could be something totally unexpected.
Zuckerberg’s all in on AI glasses being the future.
