The company’s new $299 smart eyewear line marks a sharper push into personal AI, as tech giants race to make artificial intelligence part of everyday life.
Meta Platforms has unveiled a new range of AI-powered smart glasses starting at $299, a move that signals the company’s growing ambition to turn wearable devices into the next major platform for artificial intelligence.
The new glasses, developed in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, are positioned as a more accessible alternative to Meta’s higher-priced smart eyewear products. The launch comes as major technology companies compete to move AI beyond smartphones and laptops and into devices that can be worn throughout the day.
Meta’s latest models include 26 style combinations across different frame shapes, lenses and colors. Unlike some of the company’s earlier collaborations, the new line is not branded under Ray-Ban or Oakley. Instead, Meta is presenting the glasses as its own consumer-facing AI product category.
The company says the devices will ship with Meta AI from the start, powered by Muse Spark, a system developed by Meta’s Superintelligence Labs. The glasses are designed to allow users to interact with AI hands-free, using voice commands and the built-in camera to ask questions about the world around them.
That strategy reflects a broader shift in the technology industry. For years, smart glasses struggled to find a mass audience, often viewed as expensive, awkward or too limited. But rapid improvements in generative AI have revived interest in wearable computing, especially devices that can see, hear and respond in real time.
Meta is betting that artificial intelligence will make smart glasses more useful than previous generations of wearable tech. Instead of acting only as a camera or audio accessory, the new devices are intended to function as a personal assistant, translator, information guide and content-capture tool.
The lower starting price is central to that ambition. At $299, the new glasses are significantly cheaper than Meta’s more advanced display-equipped models and closer to the price range of premium wireless headphones or designer eyewear. That could help broaden adoption among consumers who are curious about AI wearables but unwilling to pay for early-stage augmented-reality hardware.
The launch also strengthens Meta’s position in a market that is becoming increasingly competitive. Google, Apple, Snap and other companies are exploring smart glasses and AI-enabled wearables, seeing them as a possible successor to the smartphone as the dominant personal computing device.
Still, the technology faces serious challenges. Privacy concerns remain a major obstacle, especially because smart glasses can include cameras and microphones worn in public spaces. Regulators and consumer advocates have warned that the growth of AI eyewear could make recording, facial analysis and real-time data collection harder to detect.
Meta has attempted to address those concerns through visible recording indicators and product safeguards, but public trust will remain a central test. The more capable AI glasses become, the more questions they raise about consent, surveillance and the boundary between personal assistance and constant observation.
There is also the question of practical value. Consumers will need to see clear benefits beyond novelty. Translation, navigation, photo capture, hands-free messaging and visual search may appeal to early adopters, but mass-market success will depend on whether the glasses can become useful in everyday routines without feeling intrusive.
For Meta, the stakes are high. The company has spent years investing heavily in virtual reality, augmented reality and wearable computing, often at enormous cost. Smart glasses now appear to be one of its most realistic paths toward making that long-term hardware strategy commercially viable.
The new $299 line suggests Meta is moving from experimental devices toward a broader consumer push. If the company succeeds, AI glasses could become one of the first forms of artificial intelligence that people do not simply open on a screen, but wear on their face.
The race to define the next computing platform is no longer limited to phones, laptops or headsets. Increasingly, it is moving toward lightweight devices that blend into daily life — and Meta is trying to make sure its AI is looking through them first.
