Meta Floods Market with Affordable AI Smart Glasses Amid Privacy Concerns

Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, is aggressively expanding its AI-powered smart glasses lineup, aiming to establish the device as the next major internet platform. These wearable glasses can record nearly everything the user sees and hears, and Meta is pushing to make them a mass consumer product by releasing multiple models at accessible price points. The current range includes Ray-Ban Meta glasses priced around $379, Oakley sport glasses at about $499 with fitness tracking features, and more affordable versions at $299, with a premium model featuring a built-in screen costing approximately $800. Over the past year, Meta sold about 7 million pairs, tripling sales from the previous year and dominating the global market. Zuckerberg compares this shift to the transition from flip phones to smartphones, predicting that ordinary glasses will soon be replaced by smart versions. The company collaborates with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica and plans to unveil a new Ray-Ban model at its upcoming developer conference.

However, the commercial success has sparked significant privacy backlash. Civil rights and privacy advocates warn that these glasses could lead to widespread covert recording of people without their consent. Users have reported being filmed unknowingly, and some devices allegedly had disabled recording indicator lights, an issue Meta claims to have fixed via software updates. In the U.S., various institutions, including New York courts, have banned the glasses on their premises. Two particularly controversial features in development have intensified criticism: one that would recognize and remember faces to identify people in future encounters, prompting over 70 privacy organizations to demand Meta halt the feature and publicly abandon it. Meta states this feature is not yet consumer-ready, with data stored encrypted on the device rather than in a central database. Another feature under consideration would allow continuous audio and video recording without the usual white warning light.

Meta also filed a patent for a system that would monitor the user's mood throughout the day to create personalized training programs, though the company clarifies that patent filing does not guarantee active development. Meta emphasizes its commitment to responsibly managing privacy for both users and those around them. As Meta pushes forward with its ambitious vision of ubiquitous smart glasses, the debate over privacy boundaries in this emerging technology is intensifying. Investors are closely watching Meta's hardware gamble as the battle over privacy in the era of AI smart glasses unfolds.