Meta's run of bad press continues apace as even Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are being told not to wear Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses.

As reported by The New York Times, acting ICE Director David Venturella told agency employees in a memo to stop wearing Meta's camera-equipped glasses because they count as personal body-worn cameras and cannot be worn in federal workplaces.

"The use of Meta Glasses or similar devices could unintentionally capture, record, or transmit sensitive information, potentially compromising privacy and legal protections," Venturella reportedly wrote.

The ban apparently applies to all ICE employees, not just those agents conducting raids or interacting with the public. It covers all personal devices capable of recording audio or video.

Not the first time

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Times that this isn't a new policy. "Personally owned body-worn cameras and unauthorized recording are prohibited, as they always have been."

Concern over ICE agents wearing Meta glasses isn't new either. Last year, 404 Media reported on Border Patrol agents who were photographed wearing Meta glasses clearly in recording mode.

In March, The Independent investigated multiple sightings of DHS agents wearing Meta glasses in at least six different states. In some of those instances, agents appearred to be using hte glasses to photograph or record members of the public.

Part of the concern, at least on the government's part, is that personal devices mean the government can lose control of the footage. The videos could be passed on to a personal phone or filter through Meta's platform with no oversight of who can access it or what information is actually in the recording.

And that's all before we get into reports that DHS wants to design its own smart glasses. As reported by Gizmodo in April, the agency wants the glasses specifically for surveilling "illegal aliens." This version would use existing smart glasses combined with biometric databases and facial recognition to "identify people in real time."

Meta's privacy problem

Even outside of government surveillance, privacy concerns are an ongoing problem for Meta and its smart glasses. Recording can be quickly started, and the LED light indicator can easily be circumvented. Plus, there's the report from July that Meta is building "super sensing" glasses that would continuously record your life.

Meta is no stranger to pushing through privacy concerns. The company was sued over privacy claims in March over claims that workers in Kenya were watching intimate footage captured by Meta smart glasses.

In 2025 alone, the company filed a suspicious patent that would allow AI facial recognition glasses to identify people and record automatically, was caught tracking Android users without consent, accused of accessing camera rolls without permission for AI training, and was accused of displaying revealing personal info in the Meta AI discover feed.

Meanwhile, Meta currently faces a $1.4 trillion lawsuit over its claimed failure to protect children on its social platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

More from Tom's Guide

• Meta files patent for AI facial recognition glasses that identify people around you and record automatically
• Meta's new AI tool uses your Instagram photos by default — here’s how to opt out
• Meta Connect 2026 kicks off in September — date, time and mystery new smart glasses teased

A massive jury trial against Meta is beginning today that could change the face of social media forever with a potential financial death penalty of $1.4 trillion on the line.

When a tech giant is put on trial, the public is usually conditioned to expect a lengthy battle that ends in a quiet settlement, written off as just the cost of doing business. But this is entirely different.

That’s because after the lawsuit was filed by 30 U.S. states in 2023, including California and New York, governments are finally taking action in saying the “attention economy” is a public hazard for children.

It’s not just an accusation of bad content policy, it is a direct assault on how Meta and social media as a whole works. Beyond that eye-watering figure, the states are demanding fundamental changes to how Instagram and Facebook operate — including killing the like button and infinite scroll.

Should Meta lose, this would be a massive tectonic shift. I’ve sifted through the entire case document to break down the accusations, the demands, the evidence and what this will actually mean for you.

The hit list (what is actually changing)

I’ll go into the specifics of the case itself in a little bit, but outside of that gigantic price tag, what would actually vanish from Meta’s apps if the company loses?

• Death of infinite scroll & autoplay: The states are demanding an end to the endless feed and autoplaying of content. These features are explicitly designed to maximize screen time, and losing them breaks the TikTok-style doomscroll in a fundamental way.
• The end of the like button: Another key dopamine hit that keeps teens hooked to their screens is the like count. The lawsuit is targeting this too — demanding an end to social validation metrics.
• No more algorithmic manipulation: The states want to see change to Meta’s “dopamine-manipulating recommendation algorithms.” This could mean a return to your standard chronological timelines by default.
• Notification lockdown: No more frequent push notifications designed to pull young people back into apps. You’ll see these pop up to stop young people from disengaging with a social platform.
• Killing stories & filters: The states want an end to disappearing or “ephemeral” posts like Instagram Stories. On top of that, they’re demanding the removal of image filters that alter a user’s physical appearance in pictures.

However, there is one broader, scarier implication for everyone, not just teenagers.

The death of the “Finsta”

The lawsuit isn’t just about tweaking algorithms; it’s demanding structural changes to how accounts are created. The states are demanding strict parental verification for teenagers and limits on multiple account creation.

For teens, this effectively kills the “Finsta” — a fake or secondary Instagram account used to hide from parents or public scrutiny), and to enforce this, platforms will need to know exactly who is holding the phone. That would spell the end of casual online anonymity.

The smoking gun — could Meta lose this case?

Obviously, I’m not going to claim myself to be some expert legal mind here. But I’ve been a tech journalist for over 15 years and witnessed a bunch of lawsuits, and some of the data points, internal admissions and quotes in this document seem pretty eye-opening.

The COPPA Scandals:

For over seven years (until December 2019), Instagram had no age gate at all. When Meta finally added one, the drop-down menu defaulted automatically to a date making the user exactly 13 years old — effectively showing kids the exact date to bypass the restriction.

Internal research cited in the filing revealed that 40% of children aged 9 to 12 use Instagram daily, and 45% use Facebook daily. This leads to the accusation that Meta viewed children aged 10 to 12 as a “valuable but untapped audience” that dedicated internal teams analyzed to target.

The founding confession

Sean Parker himself said that the thought process behind building Facebook and Instagram was all about “how do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?”

He called it a “social-validation feedback loop” that exploits “a vulnerability in human psychology,” which its creators all understood “consciously.”

“I don’t want to hear it” about underage users

This is what Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri apparently said when he was confronted with evidence that child star JoJo Siwa had been active on Instagram since age 8.

On top of that, Meta’s former director of site integrity Arturo Bejar testified that Zuckerberg knew about “harms that teenagers are experiencing in its product,” but are “choosing not to engage about it.”

Meta’s own internal numbers

The company ran a “Teen Mental Health Deep Dive” private survey that found:

• 1 in 5 teens felt worse about themselves after using Instagram
• 24% reported feeling “not good enough because of the app”
• 67% felt forced to “create a perfect image online”
• Over half admitted to struggling with severe FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
• 14% of young users admitted to having thoughts of wanting to “hurt [or] kill themselves”

Cynical product design and internal teams

The lawsuit pulls back the curtain on how Meta internally viewed user engagement — with the company reportedly operating an engineering group called the “Rabbithole team.” Their mission was clear: optimizing “preference amplification,” which is fancy wording for figuring out how to push users deeper down algorithmic rabbit holes.

Even when Meta rolled out “time management” tools like the Daily Limit to appease public critics, the lawsuit alleges they were designed to fail. Originally, the daily limit was 10 minutes, but once public scrutiny died down after the 2021 whistleblower leaks, Meta quietly raised that minimum to 30 minutes.

But perhaps most damning of all is that as early as 2017, Facebook’s own former VP for user growth publicly admitted he had banned his own children from using Facebook. Sometime after that, Meta simply disbanded its internal “Responsible Innovation” team.

Outlook: a corporate death penalty?

The federal trial officially kicks off today in Oakland, California, with California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey leading the charge.

But this trial isn’t just about the money. Because this is a consumer protection lawsuit rather than a personal injury case, the states are asking the judge to order sweeping changes to the platforms.

If Meta loses, we aren’t just looking at a massive fine. We are looking at court-mandated age restrictions, the deletion of algorithmic feeds for minors, and the permanent removal of the infinite scroll.

Win or lose, the curtain has been pulled back. The “attention economy” as we know it is officially on trial.

More from Tom's Guide

• Meta files patent for AI facial recognition glasses that identify people around you and record automatically
• A parent’s guide to the MacBook Neo: is Apple’s cheapest laptop a back-to-school trap?
• I connected Claude to my daily apps — here are the 5 that actually made it useful

At this point, it feels like a monthly occurrence whenever a major tech CEO drops a 1000+ word essay about their thoughts on the present and future outlook of AI.

The names Sam Altman (OpenAI), Satya Nadella (Microsoft) and Dario Amodei (Anthropic) are among those individuals who’ve shared their insights into the trajectories of continued AI development, their impact on society, the long-term health/scientific benefits of advanced AI, etc. While some have found their opinions on the growth of AI and predictions for how they’ll make us better fascinating, others have found them to be full of fantastical promises that will never come to fruition.

Another individual whose name joins the list of “tech bros who’ve written lengthy papers about AI” is Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO and founder of Meta Platforms (better known as the guy who made Facebook).

He just dropped a 6,500-word AI manifesto titled “The Future is for Everyone: The Path to a Positive AI Future.” I got real comfortable in my office chair, pushed my glasses up to my nose and locked in as I read it to completion to find the five biggest takeaways you need to know.

Personal superintelligence for everyone

I’ll break it down for you guys and gals reading this right now via five easily comprehensible bullet points:

• Everyone should have access to their own “personal superintelligence”: Zuckerberg doesn’t think AI should solely belong to governments, corporations or AI Labs— he feels it needs to belong to anyone and everyone. He wants to live in a world where the everyday person has a highly capable personal AI agent at the ready that comprehends their goals and works tirelessly to help them with tasks associated with their health, career, finances, relationships, and hobbies.
• Invention over automation: Zuckerberg pushes back against the notion that AI’s continued evolution will result in more human jobs being eliminated. He is more of a huge proponent of AI improving our lives by helping humanity discover new life-saving drugs, find new ways to improve businesses and produce new creative ideas.
• A single benevolent AI is not the right way forward: Zuckerberg isn’t in favor of the concept of a single small group perfecting and controlling one single aligned superintelligence. He believes the distribution of power, such as checks and balances between individuals, businesses and governments that rely on AI power, should be introduced to ensure more safety for AI usage. For example, if only one person had a superintelligent lawyer, they'd have an unfair advantage, but if everyone has one, justice becomes fairer and more achievable.
• Meta is in the process of building the best personal superintelligence: Zuckerberg outlines several ways in which his company Meta is developing the sort of AI that will benefit humanity in the long run. Meta is focused on developing a capable personal agent that understands you, your goals, and everything you care about to help you improve across those key areas. The tech giant is also focused on building AI that promotes creativity with its tools, inspires business owners to embrace entrepreneurial ideas, improves teaching through personalized tutors & coaches with a PhD in every subject imaginable and pushes for scientific advances.
• Pushing for America to compete with its AI rivals and Meta helping communities: Rather than slowing the development of AI data labs, Zuckerberg is a stern supporter of a world where America must build energy capacity and data centers faster in a bid to compete with China. He also points to Meta launching a “Future Is For Everyone Fund” that’s equipped to financially support the communities that house their data centers. “America's Workforce Academy” is also in place to train those communities’ skilled tradespeople to get access to free training and high-paying jobs in the areas where data centers have been built by Meta.

Final thoughts

Zuckerberg’s extensive essay supports the idea of everyone having easy access to their own personal superintelligent AI, with its presence being used to boost their personal empowerment through several avenues of their lives and a proper balance of power among the biggest entities using AI so that a foundation of safety is instituted.

His concept of AI companies working closely with governments on tighter security measures by sharing their progress before their AI agents are fully deployed sticks out as a movement I can get behind.

More from Tom’s Guide

• 'Raising the standard': Inside Talkspace's bold new AI mental health support tool
• OpenAI’s head of ethics just quit — here’s why ChatGPT users should pay attention
• OpenClaw is available on iPhone and Android — these are the things I would set up first

I've used my Ray-Ban Meta display glasses for a lot of things like shopping and watching the Bad Bunny halftime show earlier this year. I think they are great, except for one problem: I'm locked into Meta AI.

And while that's not necessarily a bad thing — after all, Meta AI was built specifically for the glasses and can use their camera to answer questions about whatever I'm looking at. But ChatGPT is the AI assistant I use far more often, so I started wondering what would happen if I could give ChatGPT the same view.

And this experiment may offer a glimpse at where ChatGPT is headed anyway. OpenAI is already working with former Apple design chief Jony Ive on a new generation of AI hardware. Its first device is reportedly a portable, screenless assistant equipped with cameras and sensors that can understand what's happening around it, with several more devices said to be in development.

We don't know whether smart glasses will be one of them yet, but the direction highlights that OpenAI is thinking about a future where using ChatGPT doesn't necessarily mean pulling out your phone and opening an app.

I didn't want to wait for that, and with a rumored $300 price tag, I figured I might as well use what I already have: my Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

How I got ChatGPT Vision on my Ray-Bans

To be clear, I didn't jailbreak my Ray-Bans or somehow replace Meta AI. Instead, I used my iPhone as a bridge between the camera on my glasses and ChatGPT.

The result was essentially ChatGPT with a pair of eyes. There are really two parts to making this work: voice and vision. For obvious reasons, voice is the easier half, and my main reason for wanting to do this experiment. I prefer the new ChatGPT Voice.

Ray-Ban Meta glasses connect to an iPhone over Bluetooth and can already handle audio from calls, music and other apps. That means I can run ChatGPT on my iPhone while using the glasses to hear its responses.

Vision takes a little more work. Meta's Wearables Device Access Toolkit gives developers access to features on compatible Meta glasses, including their first-person camera. That creates a way for an iPhone app to receive images from the glasses rather than relying on the iPhone's own camera.

My iPhone effectively became the middleman.

The setup looked something like this:

Ray-Ban camera > iPhone > ChatGPT > Ray-Ban speakers

When I wanted ChatGPT to see something, the app could capture an image from the glasses' point of view and send it along with my question to ChatGPT. ChatGPT could then analyze what I was looking at and respond through the glasses. It's slower, no doubt, and the iPhone is doing a lot of work behind the scenes, but it gets the job done.

Let me be extra clear here: I didn't install ChatGPT directly on the Ray-Bans, and saying "Hey Meta" doesn't suddenly summon ChatGPT. But once the phone was back in my pocket, it started to feel surprisingly close to having ChatGPT glasses.

I asked the same questions to both AIs

Using ChatGPT on a phone requires a deliberate action. I have to take out my phone, open the app and point the camera at something before I can ask about it.

With glasses, the camera is already looking wherever I'm looking. Instead of taking a picture of something I didn't recognize, I could simply look at it and ask about it. I could look at a product and ask ChatGPT what it thought. I could have it read something in front of me and then ask a follow-up question.

1. The grocery store test

My first test was something I've done before with Ray-Ban Meta glasses and ChatGPT seperately, but putting them together was interesting. I started by taking two similar products (Pringles and Cape Cod Potato Chips) and asking both AIs to help me choose between them.

I've used the Meta Ray-Bans with food before, but I wanted to see what ChatGPT could do. They both gave me the same answer but with slightly different presentation. Meta added "if you want..." while ChatGPT was more definitive. If I'm asking for advice, I want a response with clear direction.

2. The 'what am I looking at?' test

This test really showed the difference between Meta AI and ChatGPT in an unexpected way. I showed both AIs my chonky orange tabby cat, but ChatGPT already knew his name, Jolly. Because of ChatGPT Memory already locked in from hundreds of queries, ChatGPT knows more about me than Meta AI.

3. The reading test

ChatGPT's voice and responses are much more friendlier and feel like I'm talking to someone who actually knows me. Meta typically gets straight to the point and offers zero fluff within the conversation.

That's a personal preference, for sure. But for me, I much prefer ChatGPT for even the most boring tasks.

Meta AI has one enormous advantage

There's no getting around this: Meta AI belongs on these glasses. The integration is cleaner because Meta controls everything.

The camera, microphones, speakers, wake word and AI were designed to work together. I can say "Hey Meta," ask something about what I'm seeing and get an answer without thinking about what is happening behind the scenes.

My ChatGPT setup has an iPhone sitting invisibly in the middle of the process.

That introduces more steps and more opportunities for something to go wrong. There can be latency issues and the connection can be finicky. There are things Meta can do with its own hardware that my experiment simply can't reproduce.

If all I cared about was getting the fastest possible answer to "What am I looking at?", Meta AI would be very difficult to beat.

But that's not really why I wanted ChatGPT on my glasses. ChatGPT gave me something different with an overall friendlier vibe. Have ChatGPT as a wearable and not on my phone was a game changer to the point I wish I had tried this much sooner.

The real takeaway

The bottom line for me with this experiment is that I finally got to experience what glasses with a different AI felt like. We're moving toward a world filled with AI hardware: glasses, earbuds, watches, pins and entirely new categories of devices.

OpenAI's work with Jony Ive suggests it is thinking seriously about what ChatGPT looks like when it escapes the screen. Meta is already there with Ray-Ban Meta.

But there's another question I think is going to become important: Why should buying a piece of hardware determine which AI assistant I have to use? I'd love to open the settings for my glasses someday and be able to default to any given AI assistant. I'd even like to see Alexa+ on glasses!

And while that's not how Ray-Ban Meta works today, and my setup isn't nearly as seamless as choosing ChatGPT from a menu, having a choice at all feels like the next step.

More from Tom's Guide

• OpenAI’s head of ethics just quit — here’s why ChatGPT users should pay attention
• I found ChatGPT's secret menu — these 9 features change everything
• Claude has 4 built-in skills I use constantly — here’s how to find them

It’s the ultimate illusion of authenticity. A creator in their car, warm smile, relaxed pitch. Totally genuine. The voice is hers. The subtle nods and hand gestures are hers. Even the pitch is hers. The only thing that isn't is the face.

Welcome to the era of digital body-snatching, a fast-growing, lucrative corner of the internet where anyone with access to AI tools can hijack another person's physical presence.

Why swap a face onto someone else’s video? The motives blur together. It could be for clicks, affiliate payouts, or engagement inflation. But while the endgame varies, the blueprint is unmistakable: taking a creator's likeness without their consent.

I spoke with Paige Davis, a creator who recently found her content stolen and reposted, to understand how this theft works — and why the platforms building these AI tools are leaving victims on their own.

"What the hell is this?"

Paige learned her identity had been reskinned when a friend and a follower messaged her an AI video using her voice, body, outfit, and background.

"I clicked on the video and thought, what the hell is this?" she recalls. "I’d never seen such accurate AI and it’s infinitely more jarring when it’s you. That’s my outfit, my voice, my seatbelt. Literally all she did was change the face."

The economics driving these videos are simple. Trust is expensive to build, but cheap to clone. Instead of generating a completely synthetic human from scratch, it is far more effective to steal authentic human charisma.

Tools like SyncLabs and Wav2Lip take stolen audio and overlay it onto target video, automatically re-syncing the mouth movements frame by frame.

When Paige rallied thousands of her followers to report the viral stolen clip, she hit an automated moderation wall. "I had thousands of people report it, and within 48 hours every single person got denied," she explains. "Every single person received the same notification back saying this AI girl does not go against community standards."

Days later, the video was briefly removed, only to reappear 48 hours later. "I was celebrating, telling everybody the video got taken down," Paige says. "And then two days later, every single person got the same notification saying it's back up."

It was only after submitting a manual Intellectual Property claim, a 20-minute form requiring government-issued identification, video timestamps, and formal legal language, that the content was scrubbed.

For creators without massive followings or legal literacy, the process is practically insurmountable.

Algorithms don't care about ethics

There is a stark double standard at play. On one front, tech giants rely on default opt-ins that treat user identities as raw material. Meta's rollout of Muse Image is a prime example.

If given the chance to sit down directly with product managers and executives pushing these default tools, Paige knows what she would ask:

"How did you think this feature was a good idea? What were the pros that you envisioned? Because if they can tell me some pros, maybe we could have a conversation. But I really don't see an upside to it."

When discussing Meta's opt-in rollout, Paige draws an instant parallel to one of Big Tech's most infamous missteps. "It reminds me of when Apple put that U2 album on everyone's iPod."

Tech companies are once again assuming ownership of personal assets by default. Except this time, instead of an unrequested rock album, they're taking your face.

On another front, when lawmakers try to construct actual safety nets, AI companies sue to tear them down. Case in point: xAI suing to strike down state bans on unauthorized deepfakes.

By claiming platform liability infringes on protected speech, xAI exposes the industry's broader playbook: shift the entire burden of defense onto victims while claiming total immunity for the tools enabling the theft.

Beyond the creator economy

While full-time creators have built dedicated followings, the underlying tech poses an even more insidious threat to everyday internet users.

"Millions of people are on Instagram as professional content creators... it's my job now," Paige says. "They are not protecting those people who are using their platform for what it's meant for."

When identity theft is reduced to a few clicks, the targets expand well beyond influencers. "That's what's scary and frustrating about normal people who aren't content creators," Paige points out. "They don't have the larger platform, they don't have the followers to help them get stuff taken down."

"These lengths that are being taken to use AI in people's likenesses and images is incredibly dangerous," Paige warns. "It has major consequences with people's jobs, people's lives."

Platforms like Meta and Tiktok might be in no rush to fix a scam that keeps people engaging, and the synthetic version of you will never get tired. But code can't fake accountability forever. Every time we have these conversations, we make the digital skin-walker harder to sell. We might not control the algorithm, but we still control the truth.

More from Tom's Guide

• Uncanny valley on your FYP: 5 telltale signs your TikTok feed has been hijacked by AI
• Online sellers are using AI to scam you — here’s how to outsmart them
• AI scams are getting harder to spot — pay attention to these 7 warning signs

At a glance

• The Conflict: Even Realities CEO Will Wang is calling out Meta and Google for forcing cameras onto smart glasses just to collect training data for future AI models.
• The Counter-Strategy: Even Realities' G1 and G2 smart glasses intentionally omit cameras and speakers, focusing instead on a text-based ambient HUD that prioritizes privacy, weight, and battery life.
• The Escalation: Even Realities has scaled its engineering team from 20 to nearly 400 people, gearing up to challenge Big Tech’s wearable AI dominance directly with its upcoming G3 hardware.

While Silicon Valley races to strap cameras, speakers and multimodal surveillance tools onto our faces, one smart glasses maker is picking a fight direct with Big Tech’s entire playbook.

Meta, Google and Snap want you to believe that a front-facing camera is essential for the future of AI wearables. Apple’s even rumored to be jumping in on this too. But according to Will Wang, Founder and CEO of Even Realities, their camera obsession isn’t about giving you a better device today — it’s about harvesting your personal life to train their future AI models.

Following a major $1 billion valuation round, I sat down with Wang to talk about the design choices behind the Even Realities G2 smart glasses. His message to the tech giants was loud, clear and strikingly defiant.

Editor's note: This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

The ‘endgame’ trap

If you ask Meta why the Ray-Ban Meta glasses feature an ultra-wide camera, they will point to visual AI — the ability for your glasses to see what you see and help in real-time.

Wang sees this differently. In his view, companies like Meta and Google are letting their long-term corporate ambitions spoil their current hardware.

"When you look at the strategies of Snap, Google, or Meta, their long-term vision often overly influences their current generation of products," Wang explained. "For Google and Meta, they include a camera because they believe visual data will be crucial for AI in the future, and to reach that endgame, they need to enable visual capabilities and start gathering data now."

The result? Heavy, power-hungry devices designed for future data gathering rather than present-day wearability.

"I feel these larger companies let their endgame thinking dictate their current products instead of focusing on making the perfect product for the present moment," Wang noted. "For a hardware company, it is crucial that each generation does not sell a dream or an expectation, but sells the product as it is."

‘We thrive on making good products, not selling data’

Even Realities took the opposite path with its glasses — completely stripping away cameras and speakers, and opting for a discreet heads-up display that delivers notifications, teleprompting, navigation and live conversation summaries in your field of view.

When I asked Wang if a camera prototype was ever on the table during internal testing, he shut the idea down immediately.

"From day one, even with the first-generation G1, we never had a camera," Wang said. "We feel that, at the current moment with the capability of AI, adding a camera onto a pair of glasses definitely introduces many more downsides than upsides."

Beyond the obvious hardware penalties (added weight, larger size and worse battery life), Wang pointed directly to the ethical and regulatory landmines that Big Tech seems content to ignore.

"The guardrails and regulations around how to properly use visual data with smart glasses have not been established," Wang pointed out. "So, we feel it's too early, too risky, and has too little upside for a company like ours that does not thrive on selling data. We thrive on making good products and making a profit from those products, so a camera was never in the discussion."

Instead of overpromising an invasive sci-fi feature set, Even Realities focused on what actually works today: crisp, text-based ambient computing that keeps you present in the real world without creeping out the people around you.

David vs. Goliath: the battle for G3

It’s easy to dismiss a startup taking anti-camera ideological stances against multi-trillion-dollar titans. But Even Realities is no longer just a niche player catering to early adopters.

While the original G1 was built by a scrappy skeleton crew, the company’s massive recent funding round has allowed them to quietly build a massive engineering war machine to prepare for their next generation of hardware: the Even Realities G3.

"To give you some context, when we built G1, our team was only 20 to 30 people," Wang revealed. "For G2, we had about 70 to 80 people... Now, for G3, we have 300 to 400 people globally working laser-focused on this single product line."

That headcount puts Even Realities on a similar dedicated engineering scale to the smart glasses divisions that Apple, Meta or Google have — but with one massive structural advantage. While Big Tech giants split their resources across dozens of spatial computing projects, AR headsets and ad platforms, Wang’s team is focused solely on perfecting one lightweight, ambient device.

"We are on the radar of a lot of these bigger players; they are already buying our products and trying to analyze our roadmap," Wang said with a smile. "We really need to accelerate faster than before, and this round of fundraising actually gives us that. We are very confident."

The war is on

The smart glasses war is dividing into two distinct camps. On one side, Meta and Google want to turn your face into a sensor array to fuel their AI algorithms. On the other, Even Realities wants to give you a clean, distraction-free HUD that respects your privacy and actually looks like a normal pair of glasses.

If Will Wang has his way with the upcoming G3, the winner of the smart glasses revolution won’t be the company that records the most video of your daily life — it will be the one that lets you look the world in the eye without a camera watching back.

More from Tom's Guide

• '136 grams is not for all-day wearing' — Even Realities CTO sounds off on Snap Specs, and gives details on the future roadmap
• 'It’s going to be that shift from phones to glasses': Snap Specs chief on design, target audience and that $2,200 price tag
• I praised Meta’s smart glasses privacy update yesterday — today, its ‘super sensing’ glasses proved me completely wrong

The key facts

• Meta is reportedly testing "super-sensing" AI glasses that continuously record audio and snap photos every few seconds.
• To combat "LED fatigue," executives plan to disable the recording light during always-on AI monitoring.
• This follows a recent Meta update meant to stop creeps from secretly disabling the exact same light.

Literally 24 hours ago, I wrote an article praising Meta for pushing an emergency update to its smart glasses that disables the camera if someone tampers with the recording LED. I thought Zuckerberg was finally taking the peeping tom problem seriously.

Turns out I was an idiot.

According to a new report from the Financial Times, Meta is currently testing “super sensing” AI glasses that will continuously record your life — taking photos every few seconds and constantly listening to your audio. And the grand solution for the recording LED that warns bystanders? They’re just going to turn it off.

And with this new bombshell, it seems like Meta’s lost the privacy plot. The company didn’t build a software lock to keep the creeps out, they built one so they could be the only ones in the house.

‘LED fatigue’

The FT report notes that execs plan to not activate the LED when these super-sensing features are in use. Why? Well, in a 2025 policy paper, Meta laid the groundwork for this: “If the LED blinked for extended periods at a time… people could stop noticing it.”

For all the logic I’ve heard in my many years in this job, this is simply phenomenal gymnastics. “Your honor, I realized the fire alarm was annoying everyone, so I simply turned it off while the building burned down. You’re welcome,” says the lawyer in my head

The idea is that continuous recording will allow AI to help you “query what you saw or heard, or recall your day.” But to do that, it has to wiretap every single person you interact with, which is super illegal in multiple U.S. states (and heavily regulated in the U.K.).

The software update threat

Prototype-aside, here’s the scariest line in the FT report: “The super-sensing features could also be activated on Meta’s existing glasses via a software update.”

Yesterday, I was relieved that Meta built a software pipeline to stop a cottage industry of hackers breeding a new wave of creeps. Today, I’m realizing that the same pipeline could turn my glasses on my desk into a 24/7 surveillance device. There’s a big difference between words and action, and for all their talk of privacy, Meta doesn’t seem to be fixing the loophole; they seem to be just monopolizing it.

The proposed system from Meta argues that the raw content wouldn’t be stored. Instead, the metadata from the audio and images would be extracted and uploaded to the company’s servers for the AI to query. Some argue that it has “fewer privacy implications” — I see tech-bro speak for: "we aren’t keeping your recordings, we’re just taking a highly detailed, AI-generated transcript of everything you said and did."

Something has to change

Several people told FT that “plans could still change” around whether the LED is activated or not. But the fact that this is a serious thought Meta is having after all the backlash is kind of crazy.

It also raises an interesting legal question. We already know that super-sensing would raise all kinds of legal red flags — specifically, recording audio of a third party without their consent. But in that situation, are you (the wearer) committing a crime by walking into a coffee shop with these on? Or is Meta?

Woodrow Hartzog, a professor of law at Boston University, is absolutely talking my language when he told the FT that lawmakers need to update regulations for the reality of “always-on, always-seeing devices.” He’s absolutely on the money here. “There’s no one law that addresses all the different dangerous ways these tools have been designed and built,” Hartzog commented.

Yesterday, I wrote that true privacy protection will only happen when society decides that secret recording is socially unacceptable, and that we need to treat the cottage industry of Etsy modders who disable these lights like wiretappers.

It turns out we shouldn’t just be worried about the modders. We need to be worried about the trillion-dollar company too, because exactly as I said, relying on them to police themselves “never quite works out the way you think.”

I just didn’t expect that to be proven right within the space of a single day.

More from Tom's Guide

• I’ve traveled over 50,000 miles testing smart glasses in 2026 — here are my 3 favorites that have launched this year so far
• I already paid $300 for Meta’s smart glasses — now it's charging $20 a month for a key feature
• Snap Specs vs Xreal Aura: The $1,000+ smart glasses that are fighting for your face this fall

Meta just launched "Muse Image", a new generative AI model built by Meta Superintelligence Labs, with a troubling default setting: adult public Instagram profiles are automatically opted in to have their photos used in AI-generated images.

Anyone can tag your username with an @-mention in a prompt, and Meta AI will remix your public photos into whatever image they're creating. You won't be notified when this happens. The generated images won't be deleted even if you change your settings later.

While Meta has blocked the tool from automatically targeting users under 18 or those with private profiles, every adult with a public account has been drafted by default. Here's how to protect your account.

Why this is problematic

Meta's approach flips the standard permission model on its head. Instead of asking permission to use your content for AI training and generation, it's made it opt-out by default. Your content is being used unless you actively say no, meaning s anyone scrolling Instagram can turn your photos into whatever image they imagine without your knowledge or consent.

The lack of notification is particularly concerning. You have no way of knowing your content has been used, no opportunity to object before generation happens, and no recourse if you don't like how your likeness appears in AI images. So it's worth taking minutes to disable this, and I wouldn't wait to do so.

More from Tom's Guide

• This is the blink-and-you'll-miss-it sign that Meta glasses are recording
• Instagram's new 'instants' feature is driving users crazy. Here's how to disable it
• 3 Meta Ray-Ban features that you (probably) didn't know about

Meta just released an emergency update to stop creeps from disabling the recording light on its smart glasses. That’s great. But the real problem isn’t just Meta — it’s that when I asked Google AI how to bypass this new security feature, its AI gave me a cheerful step-by-step DIY guide to becoming a creep.

All I asked was a simple theoretical question, and Google’s algorithm practically handed me a soldering iron and a ski mask.

Both its AI overview and Gemini quickly reveal that Meta’s update is going to be the first of a lot of times Zuck & Co. will be left playing an ongoing game of whack-a-mole with this problem. And given peeping tom Meta glasses mods are now a business, hackers and modders will view this as an obstacle course rather than a hard stop.

So rather than just re-report the news you’ve been seeing, I want to go into what else needs to change to truly get rid of this peeping tom behavior once and for all — starting with AI companies putting a block on guiding people how to get around it, and extending into changing the laws to stomp it out.

A bigger shift is needed

I won’t labor the point too much here, but while a software update and taking down modders' services on its own platform is a start, relying on a trillion-dollar tech company to police itself never quite works out the way you think.

Much more needs to be done on a legislative and hardware level:

• Kill the power, kill the camera: Governments need to pass laws mandating that smart glasses cannot function without a physical, hardwired, un-bypassable indicator light. If the circuit to the LED is broken, the power to the camera sensor must be physically cut. Similar to how cars must have seatbelts, this should just be a thing by law.
• Treat Etsy modders like wiretappers: Meta’s busy banning these modding businesses from Facebook Marketplace, but that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to what I’ve found on the likes of Etsy and Shopify, as well as the dark web. Lawmakers should treat businesses who modify smart glasses like this in the same way they treat businesses that sell illegal wiretapping equipment.

• Update the “peeping tom” laws for the digital age: Currently in the U.S. and U.K., peeping tom and voyeurism laws are heavily tethered to the physical location of the victim, rather than the deceptive intent of the perpetrator. These laws need to be modernized to penalize covert, disguised or altered recording devices in any space.

Outlook

I can’t lie, I do rather like wearing smart glasses for the convenience of their features. But that doesn’t make me blind to this massive problem, and rightly so, people are mad after reading the same stories of secret filming that I have.

Meta’s update is essentially putting a better lock on the door of it all, but it ignores the fact that a crowd of people is still trying to kick the door down. Much like Nintendo Switch’s update that was supposed to stop piracy in 2018 or Apple’s software locks on third-party iPhone parts, hackers and modders will eventually find a new way around this.

Maybe it’s wiring a tiny internal LED that tricks the camera into thinking the external light is on? That’s what Gemini said anyway (yikes)! Put simply, tech fixes are temporary, but true privacy protection will only happen when society decides that secret recording is socially unacceptable.

And that starts with the law treating the creators and facilitators of this tech as criminals — not just innovative tinkerers or innocent content creators.

More from Tom's Guide

• I’ve traveled over 50,000 miles testing smart glasses in 2026 — here are my 3 favorites that have launched this year so far
• I already paid $300 for Meta’s smart glasses — now it's charging $20 a month for a key feature
• Major leak reveals Samsung Galaxy Glasses controls, pairing modes and how they might work with smart watches and rings

We’ve seen shrinkflation come to a lot of tech products this year, and now it’s Meta’s turn because one of its smart glasses' most important features is now being held hostage behind a paywall.

Conversation Focus helps a lot of people I know with their minor hearing problems, or in helping them to better understand conversations in loud, chaotic environments. It runs entirely locally on-device (no cloud AI needed), but that hasn’t stopped Zuck & Co. from rate-limiting it: no more usage unless you pay $20 a month for the company’s premium plan.

What are the rate limits?

As Meta states on its support page, “all AI glasses owners get free monthly usage for certain features.” However, when you reach the free usage limit, you’ll have to upgrade to the Meta One Premium plan for $19.99 per month.

In the section about rate limits, that’s when you find that “Conversation Focus is currently available for free for 3 hours per month, or for 15 hours per month for Meta One Premium Subscribers.” On top of that, unused hours “do not roll over to the next billing cycle.”

By the way, it's worth noting that Digital Trends did the math. That would mean you get six minutes of Conversation Focus a day per month on the Free tier, and premium subscribers only get 30 minutes a day. Whether you use it for free or have the money for that subscription, this is tough.

Why this rate limit makes no sense

As The Verge tested, Conversation Focus does not use Meta’s servers at all — it runs entirely on-device using those beamforming mics and “real-time spatial processing” to “amplify the voice of the person you’re talking to.”

I’ve made it clear that I’m annoyed at companies introducing rate limits on cloud AI features after you buy their product. That’s one thing, but to rate limit something that happens locally on your own hardware? That’s pretty messed up. It’s similar to when BMW attempted to charge a monthly subscription fee for turning on the heated seats.

Even more so when I think about the audience that benefits from this feature. I think back to attending AWE 2026, and how many people I spoke to who were using Conversation Focus because they were hard of hearing.

Yes, this may not be a certified OTC (over-the-counter) hearing aid, and its purpose is more for amplifying voices in crowded scenes. But I’ve got some small hearing problems, and Conversation Focus has been a real help in busy places or even in quiet scenarios with my wife.

And now I only get three hours of it per month? This is quite a silly example of shrinkflation. I’ve reached out to Meta for comment, and will update if the company responds.

Where does it end?

I know we all make the same “Ready Player One” references here — especially that moment where the corporation starts to pitch unremovable ads that block “up to 80% of the field of view without inducing seizures.”

This is, of course, a very dramatic exaggeration of deliberately harming the experience to make money…but is it? Meta is putting limits on people who simply want to hear better and putting it behind a paywall, and let’s not forget this is the company also where in many of its free products (like Facebook, Instagram, etc), you are the product via ads.

Does this mean ad reads within its Meta AI features — maybe directing you to the nearest KFC when you ask about the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona? Or a subscription fee for electrochromic transition lenses when you’re out in the sun? This is the company that did file a patent on creating an AI version of you based on your social profiles after you die.

So here’s my plea, Meta: there’s still time to reverse this decision. This feature works entirely locally on-device — a device we all paid at least $300 for. I know there will have to be some ways you need to make your money back on your cloud AI investments, but coming for Conversation Focus that uses none of that is a pretty big rug pull.

More from Tom's Guide

• Snap Specs vs Xreal Aura: The $1,000+ smart glasses that are fighting for your face this fall
• '136 grams is not for all-day wearing' — Even Realities CTO sounds off on Snap Specs, and gives details on the future roadmap
• Tested: Xreal Aura DOES work with Nintendo Switch over USB-C — they won’t tell me how they did it, but I think Snapdragon Reality Elite and Android XR is the way

Cloud AI has felt limitless for years. But according to a Financial Times report, Google told Meta back in March that it couldn't supply all the Gemini computing capacity Meta wanted to buy.

Meta had been paying for access to Google's models through cloud and API services, leaning on Gemini for internal jobs like content moderation and scam detection, where it outperformed Meta's own Llama models. When Google couldn't meet the full request, the shortfall reportedly delayed several of Meta's internal AI projects, and Meta told employees to ration their token usage more carefully.

Think about that for a second. A company with a nine-figure AI budget was told by its own cloud provider to use fewer tokens.

The 'yikes' factor here

Google Cloud pulled in roughly $20 billion in a single quarter, yet CEO Sundar Pichai has openly acknowledged that compute constraints are capping growth, and the division's order backlog has ballooned to more than $460 billion. The bottleneck isn't money or demand, as you might expect. Instead, it's the physical supply of chips, memory, and power.

Google is even paying SpaceX nearly a billion dollars a month to borrow GPU capacity as a stopgap.

So here's my honest read on the Meta news: it doesn't prove you personally need local AI. Meta's problem is an industrial-scale one, and its actual response was to build its own in-house model (Muse Spark) and pour well over $100 billion into its own data centers, not to switch to laptops. But the episode does prove something worth internalizing: cloud AI is not an infinite faucet, even for the best-capitalized companies on Earth.

The real reasons local AI matters

• Privacy. When a model runs locally, your prompts and data never leave the machine. For health information, financial details, legal drafts, or anything you'd rather not hand to a server, that's a meaningful difference, and in some regulated fields, increasingly a requirement.
• Speed for the small stuff. A cloud round-trip adds noticeable lag before you see a single word. For quick, repetitive tasks, an on-device model can start responding almost instantly.
• It works offline. On a plane, in a dead zone or during an outage, a local model keeps going. A cloud one doesn't.
• Predictable cost at volume. If you're running the same kind of task thousands of times, owning the hardware can be cheaper over time than paying per token forever.

Today's local models still can't match the biggest cloud systems in complex reasoning.

But for summarizing documents, rewriting text, drafting code and answering everyday questions, they're already good enough. And with the dedicated neural processing units (NPUs) now shipping in AI PCs, more of that work can happen right on your laptop.

The catch

Here's the catch: the same shortage that's squeezing Meta is also making local AI hardware more expensive, not less.

Cloud and local AI draw from the same well, including the same chips, high-bandwidth memory, and DRAM. As demand for AI has soared, manufacturers have shifted production toward data-center parts, and consumer prices have followed.

It's a big reason laptops, memory upgrades, and even game consoles have crept up in price this year. So while local AI is a real way to sidestep cloud rationing, you may pay for the privilege upfront — and that trade-off deserves to be part of the decision.

Frontier reasoning is the other honest caveat. If you need the smartest possible model for a genuinely hard problem, the cloud still wins, and it isn't close. Local AI is a complement to that, not a replacement for it.

More from Tom's Guide

• I turned my YouTube watchlist into an AI bootcamp with NotebookLM — here's how
• I built five ChatGPT agents — then replaced them with one 'master' AI
• I used ChatGPT to audit my subscriptions — these prompts helped me find nearly $2,000 a year in recurring charges

As someone who is largely (if not always) inseparable from my iPhone's camera, the desire to test out Meta's elusive AI glasses was a natural next step. To me, in theory, using the smart wearables would take away the undeniable glue keeping my fingers around my phone, and let me capture, navigate and communicate all while using a screenless device — which is pretty rare in today's world.

Over the course of a month, I got my hands on the Meta Oakley Vanguard glasses and the Meta Ray-Ban Wayfarer Gen 2 glasses, with higher hopes than most, seeing the pairs had gotten rave reviews from my colleagues across Tom's Guide and TechRadar. But within 24 hours of receiving the pairs, my perspective on what was supposed to be a cool, fun wearable gizmo turned a little sour. Let's dive into it.

Privacy concerns were rife from the jump

Meta was sued over privacy claims in early March, with users reporting concerns about the use of human contractors to review footage taken by the glasses. These reports surfaced less than 24 hours after receiving my review units, which was definitely not perfect timing. According to the reports, ICYMI, contractors at Sama, a Kenyan subcontracting firm employed by Meta, say some of the footage they're asked to review includes:

• People using the bathroom or changing clothes
• Users' credit card details captured mid-transaction
• Sexual content, either viewed or recorded by the wearer
• Footage of people in their bedrooms, captured after a wearer set down their glasses without turning them off

You might ask, 'well how does this happen?', but it's as simple as saying Meta's magic words. When a user says, "Hey Meta, what am I looking at?", that footage can be flagged and sent for human review. This happens as a way to train the AI model on analysing scenes/scenarios. However, this content isn't being captured behind users' backs; it's footage that users themselves triggered, but often without realising it would be seen by a human being overseas.

This is also largely outlined in Meta AI's T&Cs, which state that the company can "review your interactions with AIs" via "automated or manual (human) review." But that language is hidden deep within the document, and most users have never read it. And there's even further cause for concern as some Meta employees have confirmed that anonymity doesn't always work, so faces can remain visible to Meta workers when reviewing footage.

I tried my best to avoid unintentionally recording, and followed suggested best practices — like disabling cloud processing and checking privacy settings. Privacy concerns aside, my time with the Meta AI glasses didn't shape up to be everything I hoped it would be… and it all started with the app.

App-solutely not

Much like the invisible tether I have to my phone, there's an equally intricate link between the Meta glasses and the Meta AI app. As with most smart glasses, there is often a software component that ensures regular updates and pairs with the frames to use certain features, like live translation and navigation assistance. Crucially, the glasses need to connect to Meta's always-online app to work.

That often meant having the app open in the background of my phone, which led to multiple Meta-targeted ads across my social platforms, as well as random "suggested prompts" on my lock screen based on conversations I had or searches I made. This wasn't ideal, to say the least, but considering my every move online is already being tracked, it wasn't the most alarming.

In contrast, what made the targeted ads somewhat more troubling was the fact that tied in with the privacy footage revelations — where the glasses are recording to an extent even if they're not — was the feeling that the glasses could see everything I saw. And that was a hard thing to shake.

Sure, most people on the internet are aware of search history, cookies, tracking, and personal data use being leveraged to promote products, ideas or suggested searches. But being confronted by targeted suggestions based on what you're seeing immediately in front of you is a somewhat shocking wake-up call.

On top of that, the app itself is a disappointment, largely resembling a sad version of Gemini's Nano Banana image editor mixed with ChatGPT's monotone prompt page, and a splash of Meta products thrown in. It does keep a track record of your voice prompts that you've asked of the glasses in the side panel, as well as all of the images and videos you've taken. Of course, there are some rather fun settings which I really enjoyed — like changing my glasses' AI voice to John Cena — and other great app integrations, like checking your movement levels through Garmin or syncing your health data.

I will say, I needed to constantly have the app open to make the most of my time with the glasses, which wasn't necessarily a deal breaker, but it made me very aware of everything I was asking them to do. And I still couldn't fully get over that murky gut feeling.

Storage struggles

One of the biggest gripes I had with the app was the storage space it took up. Aside from cloud saving any footage I had recorded, the app itself took up between 500MB to 1GB of phone storage during my test period, with the latter being when I had a longer 3-minute video saved. That's around the same size as most streaming or video media apps with larger offline caches. Comparatively, AI apps like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini usually cap out at around 300MB.

Sure, if you have the means to purchase a phone off the rack with over 200GB storage, then it might not even matter to you. But as I've mentioned, my phone is my lifeline, so needing it to take photos or videos of review products is the most important thing in my job. At the time of the test period, I was using my tried and true blue iPhone 14 with 128GB storage, which was plenty fine for my needs. But unfortunately, due to Meta's app size, I did find myself having to delete a few lesser-used apps and images to accommodate its fluctuating size.

Unmatched visuals and audio

For everything I disliked and was wary of during my test period, there were features that I'm now missing, now that my test period has come to an end. Notably, the ability to film high-quality video and photos hands-free was unrivalled.

I enjoyed taking long walks around my local park, and got to capture my dog playing fetch without having to finagle my phone to get the shot. I even took them along to the Australian Hi-Fi Show to capture the atmosphere of the high-end speakers and audio equipment without feeling like I was blocking anyone's shot (or earshot) of the music being played.

I even enjoyed taking them on walks around the city and asking directions or recommendations of lunch spots nearby to Tom's Guide's AU office, and spoiler alert: I ended up finding a new matcha spot that I now go to every other week. I even asked about particular plants I walk past every day but didn't know the name of, and the glasses gave me the answer right away. It was pretty neat.

I also particularly liked the audio settings, especially in the Meta Oakley Vanguards during active activities like biking or running. My colleague Nico, who also tested the Vanguards, really liked the convenience of not needing an extra pair of headphones for either music during solo rides or runs, or navigating with Google Maps. Using voice commands to start and stop recording was also nifty, although he wished the prompts were louder as he sometimes didn’t know whether the recording had started or stopped, especially on a windy day.

One thing on Nico’s wishlist for the next models would be slimmer temples to make them fit in helmet vents when the Vanguards aren’t in use (just like analogue cycling sunnies) — although he admits it’s not a major dealbreaker, as there are still other ways of stowing the device away while still on the bike.

As for the Ray-Ban Wayfarer Gen 2s, it's not to say audio calls or listening to music was drastically different, but the sound does have more bleed-through when compared to the Oakley Vanguards.

But with that comes a healthy caveat — none of these activities listed are things that I necessarily needed smart glasses for.

Final thoughts

When it comes to my final take on Meta's AI glasses, I'd issue a word of caution before committing to a pair. Yes, they're really cool, they're a fun concept, and I'm sure there are a fair few people who would get meaningful use out of them.

From posting cool adventures like skiing or gorgeous landscapes directly to your Facebook or Instagram account, and feeling "more present" when taking photos or videos of growing kids or once-in-a-lifetime experiences, to live translating conversations from select languages and getting navigational guidance when in a new city, there's a lot to like about Meta's foray into wearable technology.

Having said that, users should know and intrinsically understand what they're signing up for before signing on the dotted line. You may find, as I did, that all the online tools and services we’ve all become blasé about are still — as they’ve always been — immensely intrusive, and privacy today is a rare and fleeting experience. It’s only when it’s all right in front of you, literally in your face, that you realise just how deep we are in this construct, and are we really the ones being served here?

When AI was first introduced, it came in the form of assistants like Siri and Alexa, then came chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini. Since then, we've seen agentic AI (AI agents) take over our computers and do the work for us. Now, big tech is racing towards a new type of AI that truly seems like something out of a sci-fi movie. At least until now.

It's called spatial AI and the biggest names in tech are already throwing billions of dollars at it.

Rather than simply generating text or images on a screen, spatial AI gives artificial intelligence something it has largely lacked until now: spatial awareness. Here's what you need to know about the next major shift — and why the battle lines are being drawn right now.

What is spatial AI anyway?

You've probably heard the term a few times and maybe not given it a second thought. However, it's worth understanding, especially because AI moves at such break-neck speeds. Most of us will be using spatial AI more frequently in the upcoming months.

You can think of spatial AI as the ultimate upgrade for machine vision. Instead of looking at an isolated photo, for instance, like a chatbot analyzing an uploaded image, spatial AI builds a continuous, three-dimensional understanding of its surroundings. Essentially, it's the difference between looking at a single snapshot of your living room versus actually walking through it, navigating around the coffee table and knowing exactly where the doorway is.

While a Large Language Model like ChatGPT knows facts because it was trained on text, a spatial AI system uses cameras, sensors and learned models of physics to track location, movement and objects. Using that information, the AI continually updates its understanding of the world.

The race to spatial AI

Alongside Apple, Meta and OpenAI, Google DeepMind, NVIDIA and others are all building toward AI that understands physical reality. In fact, World Labs has raised $1 billion to advance what Li calls "spatial intelligence".

Here's how the biggest players in tech line up at the moment:

• Apple: The company's genuine advantage is in spatial sensing, thanks to the depth and motion hardware developed for Apple Vision Pro. The company is pushing "Visual Intelligence" and, at WWDC 2026, debuted Spatial Reframing — a photo tool that builds on Apple's spatial models from Vision Pro to let you reposition a photo's perspective after it's taken. (It ships with iOS 27 this fall and is currently in beta.)
• Meta: It's no secret that Mark Zuckerberg wants Meta to own the post-smartphone era, and in glasses, Meta is the one with the lead. Meta Ray-Bans launched in October 2023 and effectively created the wearable-AI category. Now, Meta is investing in spatial AI so future hardware can actively see what you see — rumored "super sensing" tech in the next generation would enable real-time recognition of objects, locations and even people (a capability that's also raising real privacy questions).
• OpenAI: As one contender in a crowded field, not the clear "brain" for everyone else's hardware, it's building its own robots, too. The company's objectives toward multimodal models, world simulation, robotics and autonomous agents point in the same direction as its competitors.
• Google DeepMind: The company is developing spatial AI through projects like Gemini Robotics, which combines vision, language and physical reasoning to help robots understand and interact with the real world. It is also building world models such as Genie that can generate and simulate interactive 3D environments, allowing AI to learn how physical spaces and objects behave. Meanwhile, Project Astra gives AI continuous visual awareness, enabling it to recognize objects, understand spatial relationships and maintain context as a user moves through their environment.

Where you'll see it first

You won't download a standalone "Spatial AI" app. Instead, it'll quietly supercharge tech you already use.

• Smartphones: Your phone's camera has already become a real-time tool. If you've ever pointed it at a branch and wondered if it was poison ivy or something safer, you already have started using the capability.
• Smart glasses: Unlike smartphones, smart glasses like those from Meta, Google and RayNeo X3 Pro AR, let you interact with AI while keeping your hands free and your eyes on the world. They can identify objects, translate signs, answer questions about what you're looking at, and provide contextual information in real time, making spatial AI feel like a natural extension of your vision.
• Robotics: Spatial and physical intelligence such as understanding 3D geometry, gravity, materials and persistence, is seen as critical for robotics and autonomous vehicles, giving machines the situational awareness to operate outside controlled settings.
• Self-driving cars: Autonomous vehicles already rely on real-time 3D modeling of roads, pedestrians, and cyclists to predict what happens next.

The outlook

The biggest shift coming with spatial AI isn't that your gadgets get smarter; it's that they become aware of context. Right now, your tech answers questions after you ask them. The ambition is still early, and spread across far more than three companies, but the goal is hardware that understands where you are and what you're doing before you type a single prompt.

We're in the early beginning, which is why I wanted to help you to grasp what is happening now. The world-models paradigm only moved into mainstream AI development in late 2025 and early 2026, and the hard problems of cost, accuracy and privacy are far from solved. But just as generative AI changed how computers understand language, spatial AI is aiming at how computers understand reality itself.

What are your thoughts on spatial AI? Let me know in the comments and share your thoughts on this new era of technology.

More from Tom's Guide

• Anthropic will pay workers $85,000 to learn AI — and it reveals the next big AI job trend
• Anthropic's Fable 5 ban exposed AI's next big problem — but Sakana's Fugu may have the answer
• Is your job 'AI-resilient'? Find your risk score with our career calculator

I've been testing all the best smart glasses and VR headsets for over five years now, and no time has been more exciting for this space than right now. I'm heading to AWE 2026 (my second year attending), and something feels different about this one — almost as if we're about to see something transformative.

As you can see in our best of AWE 2025 awards, this show isn't usually about the big hardware announcements; it's about all the smaller innovations that will come together to build that breakthrough pair of glasses that change the face of computing. This year, I think the stars are aligning, and we're going to see what happens when all of this comes together.

And after watching Nvidia "reinvent the PC" with RTX Spark, it's doubly fascinating because people are starting to offer differing views on the future of computing. Something big is going to happen in Long Beach next week, and here are my three predictions about what it will be.

We get a first real look at Snap Specs

It was confirmed at AWE last year that Snap's Spectacles developer project is finally going to become a consumer product in 2026. And now, CEO Evan Spiegel is back with another keynote named "making computing more human."

We've seen the slow build to this moment over the past 12 months, from me testing key updates made to Snap OS to make it ready for the public, to Snap and Qualcomm officially teaming up for the "future of specs." I believe everything is in place, and we may get our first true look at the hardware design.

It will be fascinating to see how Snap has addressed the key challenge of cramming so much computing power into something you're comfortable wearing all day long (without a puck attached either).

And as former VP of hardware Scott Myers told Tom's Guide, they will be "substantially smaller." Hopefully, we get to see the fruits of their labor!

Qualcomm brings new Snapdragon silicon to power the future of Android XR

And speaking of that Qualcomm x Snap love-in for the specs, Qualcomm's SVP of XR Ziad Asghar will be taking the stage again in a keynote titled "The era of personal AI and endless realities."

It's a bold title, and if you remember last year, Asghar hosted the keynote and announced the Snapdragon AR1+ Gen 1 silicon for local AI on smart glasses. So Ziad has previous of attending AWE to announce new chips, Snap Specs are coming this year, and on top of that, Xreal's Project Aura is launching soon, and nobody will confirm the Snapdragon chip inside that.

So it got me thinking... If there's a new chip, what will that new chip be? And I turned my attention to the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, which has been around for a good couple of years now. Throw in a couple leaks of a so-called "Project Matrix," and I'm getting Gen 3 vibes — both to power the Snap Specs and possibly inside that Project Aura compute puck too.

Again, this may just be a wild prediction I've had since a few months back that will get shot down. But with the new crop of devices coming this fall, it feels like the right time to speed up that performance and beef up the power efficiency.

The smart glasses war starts to heat up

On the AR glasses side of things, the battle has heated up to the point where lawyers got involved! Viture and Xreal have been trading blows at the cutting edge of innovation — widening that field of view and offering more spatial experiences built right in.

But the next challenge is going to be one that the MacBook Neo spurred: value for money. So far, RayNeo has dominated with its $299 Air 4 Pro AR glasses, and we already know Xreal is responding with its same-priced X By Xreal specs. Will this be the moment we see a first glimpse of how Viture could be responding?

And it doesn't matter who comes out on top because at the end of the day, we win. These companies duking it out and offering more bang for your buck is great for us!

Then there's the AI glasses side of it... Over on this side of things, we're heading in two clear directions, and it'll be up to us to decide which one wins with our wallets:

• All-encompassing agentic AR: Qualcomm's super strength is having a chip in pretty much every kind of device you use. This kind of data grabbing is significant in personalizing an AI and getting it to do work for you, which you can see on a heads-up waveguide display in front of you. Throw in multi-modal capabilities with a camera, and the possibilities are huge!
• Making smart glasses less cringe (and creepy): Conversely, especially with Meta silently adding facial recognition code to its smart glasses, you're seeing increased (and very genuine) worries that we're about to enter Black Mirror-levels of surveillance and privacy invasion with something like this. So other companies are aiming for something more focused, simpler, and with privacy in mind (like Vonder).

Outlook

If these three things happen (and that's a big if), then we may be on the precipice of starting to see spatial computing make sense as the new way of doing things. So far, it's been a nice-to-have — a fun way of messing about with your apps.

But things could very well change with new hardware running new silicon and innovations from smaller players with big ideas. It's one of the reasons why I love covering this exciting space.

Will it all be enough to outrun Apple to its first smart glasses (expected early 2027)? That remains to be seen.

More from Tom's Guide

• I lived in the Viture Beast for 10,000 miles, and it just ruined other AR glasses for me
• I flew over 10,000 miles with Asus ROG Xreal R1 smart glasses — here are 2 things I love about them (and 3 I don’t)
• I tested Google’s “Intelligent Eyewear,” and found the smart glasses that will defeat Ray-Ban Meta

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks but you really can. You can also learn something new every day as an amazing thread on Meta’s Threads has proven.

User sarajaclynschwartz innocently asked others to "nerd out with me" and list their favourite keyboard shortcut. Those reading certainly stepped up, creating a thread with more than 1,700 responses and a whole bunch of amazing shortcuts.

Many of those commented that they’d never come across many of the shortcuts before and it’s fair to say there’s a heap of stuff that will have passed by a good number of us.

Sure, Ctrl+Z saves us all daily. But your Windows or Mac keyboard is hiding better tricks. Let's find dive in.

Cast your vote above, and let us know your absolute favorite shortcut in the comments below!

More from Tom's Guide

• I use these 7 Google Chrome keyboard shortcuts every day to save me time
• How to change keyboard shortcuts in Windows 11
• 9 MacBook keyboard shortcuts you need to know first

Meta has blessed us with another feature nobody requested: Instagram Instants. Just when you thought your DMs were chaotic enough, Instagram now lets people send you disappearing photos that vanish after you view them, cluttering your inbox with a persistent notification stack.

This is the same company that gave us Threads (their Twitter alternative), Reels (their TikTok answer), and Stories (inspired by Snapchat). Now it's created Instants, because apparently there weren't enough ways to share photos yet.

The feature launched last week and immediately started appearing in users' DMs whether they wanted it or not. If you're already annoyed by it, here's what to do next.

More from Tom's Guide

• Instagram now lets you schedule DMs — here's how to do it
• I asked ChatGPT to roast my Instagram feed — here's how you can too
• Want a faster TikTok? Here's how to clear your cache

I've been using the Ray-Ban Metas, the Meta Ray-Ban Display and the Oakley Meta Vanguard for the better part of a year, and they've proven to be some of the most capable and best smart glasses around. I've found them exceptionally handy for taking pictures and video on the go, listening to music, keeping tabs on conversations, and finding out general info about things that are in front of me.

However, at Google I/O 2026, Google finally revealed Google Glass 2.0 its Intelligent Eyewear, which are due out this fall. Although the introduction was brief, what I saw impressed me in a few ways — most notably, the things they offer that Meta's smart glasses do not.

Fortunately for Meta, it has a few months to improve its own products — which no doubt we'll see at Meta Connect 26 in September. Here are the three big things that Meta will need to add to keep up with Google.

Maps and directions

Apart from search, one of Google's biggest assets is Google Maps, so it's no surprise that turn-by-turn directions are one of the features included in its eyewear. Not only that, but Gemini will also be able to add stops to your route as you go.

Currently, only the Meta Ray-Ban Displays provide native navigation, and it's only recently been updated to include the entire U.S., and a few cities abroad, such as London, Paris, and Rome. And, they're only walking directions.

This is something that's going to have to get a lot more comprehensive, and also become available on all of its smart glasses.

Taking (and editing) photos

More than anything, I use Meta's smart glasses to take photos and videos, as it's so much more convenient and faster than pulling my phone out of my pocket. However, smart glasses' cameras are much less capable than those on smart phones, so I know I'm making a bit of a tradeoff.

Google's smart glasses will let you use Nano Banana to instantly edit the photos you take, to remove background objects or even do something sillier, like putting mustaches on everyone in the picture. Hilarity aside, the Nano Banana integration could help remove, or at least mitigate, one of the key disadvantages of a smart glasses' camera.

A recent update to all of Meta's cameras lets you automatically crop photos where a portion is covered by a hat or hair — a very welcome feature — but it's going to have to go a bit further. Meta does allow you to use AI tools to edit photos you take from within the app, but you can't make these changes proactively.

Greater app support

Thanks to its history of acquisitions, Meta has some pretty useful apps in its portfolio, most notably Whatsapp and Instagram. And, its smart glasses also work well with major music apps (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music) as well as Garmin and Strava. But that's not nearly enough.

At the keynote, Google announced that its glasses would work with a host of apps, such as Uber, Doordash, and more. It's not clear if the apps need to be integrated with the glasses themselves, or if you merely need to connect them via Gemini — which would save a lot of app development time.

Regardless of how it's accomplished — and this is something I noted in my Meta Ray-Ban Display review — there needs to be far greater integration with third-party apps and services.

To its credit, Meta did announce it was launching developer access, so you can start building Web apps for the glasses. But, this will need to be extended to all of its devices, not just the premium Displays, and it will need to get some major companies on board.

Outlook

There's a lot of time between now and when the Google Intelligent Eyewear makes its debut this fall, and Meta does have a strong early lead in actually producing smart glasses.

Still, Google has some real strengths where it can leverage its massive portfolio of businesses, services, and AI to its advantage. Before Thanksgiving rolls around, Zuckerberg and Co. could be playing catch-up — and by then, it may be too late.

More from Tom's Guide

• Google’s new $100 AI Ultra plan just changed the AI race — here's what you get
• Google just launched Gemini 3.5 Flash — here's all the upgrades
• Google unveils Gemini Spark — a '24/7 personal AI agent'

With Memorial Day only a couple of weeks away, Meta is offering the company's first-ever sale across both its Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta glasses.

Through May 25, you can save up to 25% on Meta AI glasses. This even includes 20% off prescription lenses when you're purchasing the frames. You can get 15% off the Ray-Ben Meta (Gen 2) and 20% off the Oakley Meta HSTN specs. The first-generation Ray-Ban Meta are on sale for 25% off.

Meta doesn't offer sales on its glasses often, especially not one covering this many different smart glasses. If you're looking to get into AI glasses, these are some of the best smart glasses.

Multiple styles and colors are on sale for both the Oakley and Ray-Ban sales.

In our Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) Smart Glasses review, we said the Editor's Choice glasses look great and work as promised. The sleek design and increased camera quality makes for a modest but noticeable upgrade over the Gen 1 spectacles.

The audio quality is great when listening to music or making phone calls. Plus, the glasses are water-resistant.

The Ray-Ban glasses come with adaptive volume control and loudness boost. The second generation also comes with a music detection tool. This lets you say "Hey, Meta what's this track." It will Shazam the song for you.

There's also language support from the Meta AI including French, Italian and Spanish.

The Oakley Meta HSTN glasses are high-performance glasses that justify their higher price tag with durability, connection and improved capture capabilities.

In our Oakley Meta HSTN review, we said that the glasses were a big step forward for Meta's smart glasses. "For outdoor enthusiasts, creators, or anyone who prioritizes performance and clarity, the Oakley Meta HSTN delivers a practical-yet-gratifying experience," Kate Kozuch said.

The timeless design stands out and integrates a camera, speaker, and microphone for interacting with the world. You can say "Hey Meta" and get answers with Meta AI.

The camera can capture up to 3K videos and photos from your POV. The Oakley glasses are capable of sending and receiving phone calls and messages.

They aren't as flexible, especially when it comes to fashion, so the Ray-Ban Meta might be a better fit for you. Luckily, you can get both the Ray-Ban Meta and the Oakley Meta HSTN at their lowest price to date.

More from Tom's Guide

• Meta Connect 2026 kicks off in September — date, time and mystery new smart glasses teased
• What is an instant on Instagram? How to use the latest feature that’s taking on Snapchat
• How to tell if someone is filming you wearing smart glasses — the signs to watch out for

Instagram just added another way to share photos, and this one feels different. No filters, no editing, no carefully curated aesthetic. Just open the camera, snap what's in front of you, and send it to close friends or mutuals. They view it once, then it's gone.

Instants live in your DMs rather than your main feed or Stories. They're designed for the moments you'd text a photo to a friend but don't want permanently attached to your profile. Think of it as Instagram's answer to Snapchat or BeReal, but built directly into the app you're already using.

The feature sits tucked in the bottom corner of your inbox where most people haven't noticed it yet. Here's what Instants actually are and how to use them.

More from Tom's Guide

• Instagram now lets you schedule DMs — here's how to do it
• I asked ChatGPT to roast my Instagram feed — here's how you can too
• Want a faster TikTok? Here's how to clear your cache

Meta's annual consumer show for 2026 finally has a date. This year's edition is set to take place September 23 and 24, 2026.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Connect 2026 on his Instagram page. There are several slides, which tease what we could see in September.

One of the slides shows a sunglasses emoji above "demos, special guests, AI updates, better wifi." There's also a poorly blurred word, which appears to be "performance."

The next slide shows Zuckerberg holding what are clearly glasses, colored over with a blue pen. Other devices on a table in front of him appear to be more glasses, and maybe a puck of some kind.

Based on a map slide, it looks like Meta Connect 2026 will take place in the same building that last year's edition was held in, in San Francisco.

The final slide reveals that the Keynote should kick off at 4 pm Pacific on Wednesday, September 23.

What we expect to see

Obviously, based on Zuckerberg's teaser, something with smart glasses will debut at Meta Connect. One rumor from March hinted at Ray-Ban Meta glasses finally designed for prescription lenses that could launch this year.

But what else could we see, especially with that barely blurred "performance"?

Early rumors this year suggest that Meta is looking to challenge Apple with its own smartwatch this year. That could be what performance refers to. The watch, reportedly code-named Malibu 2, will offer many of the same features found on the best smartwatches, plus a Meta AI assistant.

Additionally, Meta has insisted that the Quest 4 headset is still coming. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth confirmed the rumored headset will launch at some point in February.

A render leaked earlier this year, appearing to show a mock-up of prototype models of a lightweight VR HMD, though that device isn't supposed to launch until 2027. Since Bosworth's announcement, it's been pretty quiet even on the rumor front.

We'll know more about Meta's plans by September.

More from Tom's Guide

• I upgraded my Meta Quest with the best VR accessories in 2026
• 'We’re doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently': Meta announces layoffs of 10% of workforce amid massive AI push
• 3 best Meta Ray-Ban features that you (probably) didn't know

Meta’s reported plan to cut around 10% of its workforce is being framed as another major round of tech layoffs. But the bigger story here is about what comes next.

According to a new Bloomberg report, Meta Platforms is preparing to eliminate roughly 8,000 jobs while continuing to spend aggressively on AI, data centers and the massive computing power needed to compete in the next phase of the AI race. That suggests these cuts may be more about reducing payroll today to help build a leaner, faster and more automated company tomorrow.

In other words, this may be a productivity bet.

Why layoffs and AI spending can happen at the same time

It seems counterproductive to see layoffs at a profitable company. Why cut jobs when business is strong? But because labor is often one of the largest controllable expenses, reducing headcount can free billions of dollars over time; money that can then be redirected into higher-priority areas like chips, servers, cloud infrastructure and elite AI talent.

The new playbook across tech seems to be reduce slower-growth costs, then double down on AI. For Meta Platforms, that could look like growing the company with smaller teams that are expected to deliver more while using increasingly capable AI tools. Even Mark Zuckerberg himself is reportedly building an AI version of himself.

What a '4x productivity bet' could actually mean

Creating more productive teams ("four times more productive," according to the report), doesn't happen overnight, but AI certainly helps speed up the process with tools that can draft code faster, analyze data in minutes instead of days, create marketing assets instantly, automate customer support workflows, summarize meetings, reports and research and overall handle repetitive internal tasks without adding headcount.

Multiply those gains across thousands of employees, and executives may see a path to dramatically higher output with fewer people. That’s likely the real promise being chased here; AI is allowing companies to scale without hiring at previous levels.

Why this matters beyond Meta

When a company as influential as Meta Platforms makes a move like this, rivals pay attention. If Meta can cut costs, accelerate product development and maintain growth while operating with fewer employees, don't be surpised if other companies follow. As scary as it is, this massive round of layoffs could reshape hiring across the broader white-collar economy.

The most exposed areas may be roles centered around repeatable digital work, including administrative operations, entry-level analysis, basic content production, scheduling and coordination or anything involving internal workflows.

And while the numbers are frightening, this doesn't mean those jobs disappear overnight. It means expectations change as companies ask workers to manage AI systems rather than manually complete every task themselves.

To be clear, this isn't a signal to panic, but it is a notice that it's time to adapt. As Reese Witherspoon suggested earlier in the week, the safest career move in the AI era may be becoming the person who knows how to use the tools, guide the tools and improve outcomes with the tools.

The takeaway

The winners likely won’t be people who compete against AI on volume. They could be people who use AI to multiply their value. Meta Platforms’s reported layoffs is a cost-cutting solution and a glimpse into how major companies plan to operate by 2027.

Fewer people, more automation and much higher expectations for productivity suggest an emerging workplace model where efficiency matters more than headcount, and AI fluency becomes one of the most valuable skills an employee can have.

More from Tom's Guide

• I let Gemini scan my messy fridge photos to plan my meals — and I saved $150 this month
• I asked ChatGPT to use Charlie Munger’s ‘Inversion rule' to rethink my goals — and it beat every productivity app
• I asked ChatGPT to use Elon Musk’s ‘Relevance Rule’ to fix my memory — and I’m never going back to notes

Meta Ray-Bans do more than take photos and answer basic questions. Beyond the obvious features most people use daily, these smart glasses include capabilities owners might discover — like identifying songs playing around you, scanning QR codes without pulling out your phone, and translating foreign languages in real-time.

These features work through voice commands and the Meta View app, turning your glasses into a hands-free tool for situations where using your phone would be awkward or inconvenient. Here are three Meta Ray-Ban features worth knowing about.

Did we miss your favorite feature? Let us know in the comments!

More from Tom's Guide

• This is the blink-and-you'll-miss-it sign that Meta glasses are recording
• I used Meta AI to enhance my selfies — here's how to try it
• You can live stream with your Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses — here's how

For nearly three decades, my mornings have started the same way: running shoes on, out the door before sunrise, miles logged before most people finish their first cup of coffee. But the hardest part of staying fit was never the run, it was everything that came after.

If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, train for a race or simply eat healthier, you know the routine: scan barcodes, log ingredients, weigh portions, repeat. What starts as motivation quickly turns into tedious admin, and the burnout is real.

That’s why the idea of using AI glasses to track calories for me instantly caught my attention. If they could remove the most annoying part of healthy eating, I wanted to know.

But with Meta’s April 2026 update, the frustration just vanished for me. By integrating the Muse Spark multimodal model, my Ray Ban Meta Smart Display glasses have once again proven useful — even beyond translating the Superbowl Half Time show or shopping at Target.

Here’s what it’s actually like to let your eyewear audit your plate.

Less counting, more enjoyment

Standing in my kitchen with a pre-run snack, usually involves a "stop and scan" moment. Now, I simply put on my Ray Ban Meta smart display glasses and ask:

"Hey Meta, tell me approximately the calories in what I’m eating,"

Through the display, I saw the glasses instantly outline the banana and a handful of almonds using Muse Spark’s multimodal segmentation. A small overlay appeared in my line of sight: 105 calories for the banana, 160 for the almonds.

The glasses estimated the calories far more accurately than a standard flat photo ever could. I now do this throughout the day with whatever I eat, whether it's a salad, apple or even a cheeseburger.

Beyond the label

The real test happened at the local coffee shop. As I looked at my cup, the glasses identified the "Starbucks" logo and the size of the container. Because I had previously synced my preferences in the Meta View app, it knew I opted for oat milk.

It estimated the sugar content and I was able to immediately add it to my food log before I even took the first sip. This is what I think is one of the coolest features of AI. It's essentially data that quietly exists in the periphery of your life, but AI has the ability to spot patterns and provide details based on its training data.

Can AI really 'see' a recipe?

Of course, this experiment wouldn't be a true test without an accuracy challenge. It's not hard to identify a whole apple with fairly accurate data. However, it's much harder to identify a home-cooked chili. To stress-test the model, I used a "context hack." While sautéing onions, I looked at the pan and said, "Meta, I’m adding two tablespoons of olive oil and a pound of lean ground turkey."

Later, when I sat down to eat, the glasses didn’t just see "chili." It utilized recall to remember the ingredients from thirty minutes prior. This local processing solves the biggest hurdle in AI nutrition for me — where the hidden fats and sugars exist but a camera alone can’t see. Although the numbers are estimates, for me, that's better than not knowing at all (or trying to manually do the math myself — not my strong suit).

Social stealth with the Neural Band

I have to say that the most futuristic moment happened at a recent party. While I don't usually wear the Meta display glasses around people (talking to my glasses while your friends are passing the salad is a social non-starter), the Meta Neural Band changed the game.

When a notification appeared in my view asking to confirm a "Large Garden Salad," I used a subtle "pinch" gesture with my hand under the table. The band’s sensors picked up the motor intent and confirmed the image. It was the first time calorie tracking felt truly invisible.

Bottom line

Using Ray-Ban Meta glasses to help me eat healthier was not something I had on my 2026 bingo card. But after trying it firsthand, it feels like an early glimpse at how AI could reshape personal wellness.

With tools like Muse Spark and the Ray-Ban Meta Display, we may be moving toward a future of ambient health tracking, where nutrition is monitored with the same low-effort convenience as steps, sleep or heart rate. Instead of manually logging every bite, the process starts to happen in the background.

The calorie estimates are still approximate, but for me, that’s enough. As a runner, it could mean the end of post-workout data-entry burnout after a long training run. As a parent, it offers one less mental task while trying to keep an eye on how much sugar my kids consume. And as someone who covers AI for a living, it feels like one of the clearest real-world examples yet of wearable AI becoming genuinely useful.

I’m still experimenting, but one thing is clear: smart glasses are starting to do a lot more than just take photos.

More from Tom's Guide

• ChatGPT’s new ‘Thinking’ mode just hit a 94% reasoning score — 7 prompts it can solve that standard AI can’t
• I tested Anthropic’s new Claude Opus 4.7 — and it’s the first AI that actually ‘reasons’ through tasks
• Google just unlocked 'Agent Mode' for Gemini 3.1 — here are 7 things it can now do for you

Meta announced today (April 16) that starting on Saturday April 19 the company would raise prices on its Meta Quest 3 and 3S virtual reality headsets. The tech giant blamed the ongoing RAM crisis for the price hike, per a Reuters report.

Meta's headsets come in three configurations: Quest 3S with 128GB or 256GB storage and the Quest 3 with 512GB of storage. Here's how their prices are changing.

The Quest 3S is Meta's entry-level virtual reality headset, while the Quest 3 is the higher-end more fully featured headset. According to Reuters, the price hike will also affect refurbished Quest headsets, but accessories will retain their current price tags.

The slow death of Meta VR

Meta isn't alone in raising prices due to increasingly gargantuan memory prices, but this move feels like another step in the slow death of Meta's virtual reality ambitions.

Since January, Meta has laid off 10% of its employees in the Reality Labs group, responsible for VR, and both cancelled and uncancelled its metaverse Horizon Worlds. The company recently backtracked on killing Horizon Worlds after some intense fan backlash.

In January, it was revealed that Reality Labs lost a staggering $6 billion in the company's fourth quarter while only making $955 million. In total, the division has burned $70 billion since 2021.

Meta is allegedly not abandoning VR according to Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, which flies in the face of the company's recent actions.

In February, Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth insisted that Meta Quest isn't dying and that the Meta Quest 4 is in active development. “Furthermore, these internal changes unblock roadmaps for us on hardware; the next two devices we are looking at are very exciting,” Bosworth said at the time.

Presumably, those devices are the Quest 4 and Quest 4S.

More from Tom's Guide

• I tried Muse Spark — here’s what you need to know about Meta’s new AI model
• Meta is reportedly building an AI Mark Zuckerberg — and employees will have to talk to it
• Your private Facebook photos may not be as safe as you think after a massive insider theft

When you hear “Meta,” you probably think of Facebook and the company’s other social platforms.

But Mark Zuckerberg isn’t just focused on your feed anymore. Meta has been investing heavily in AI, with tools like its Meta AI assistant, the Vibes image and video generator and wearable tech like the Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses.

Now, Meta AI is getting a major upgrade. It’s powered by Muse Spark, a new multimodal reasoning model from Meta Superintelligence Labs and the first to roll out in the company’s Muse family of AI systems.

Like other leading models, Muse Spark can handle a wide range of tasks, from simple prompts to more complex reasoning. In an official blog post, Meta positions it alongside top competitors like Claude Opus 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, GPT-5.4 and Grok.

With Muse Spark now available inside Meta AI, I decided to take a closer look at what this new model can actually do.

Here’s what Muse Spark is all about and how you can use it.

Ease of use across Meta apps

Muse Spark is designed to act as a fast, context-aware assistant.

It can handle everything from casual conversations to complex reasoning, with support for text, images and voice. That means you can upload a sketch of a Sudoku puzzle and ask it to turn it into a playable web game, or prompt it to create a simple fractions game for kids.

Muse Spark is available across Meta AI on desktop, the Meta AI app and Meta smart glasses, with support coming soon to social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. It’s worth noting that Muse Spark is cloud-only, so you won’t be able to download or fine-tune it locally.

When you need deeper reasoning, you can trigger “Contemplating mode” by saying something like “Use Contemplating mode” or “Think this through carefully.” This is especially useful for debugging code, analyzing research papers or planning detailed trips with constraints like budget, route and stops.

Muse Spark can also analyze images. For example, you could upload a photo of your pantry and ask it to estimate calories for each visible item.

One standout feature is its memory. It can recall preferences, past decisions and ongoing projects, making it feel more like a true assistant over time. If you’re looking to streamline your workflow, it’s worth experimenting with how Muse Spark can support your day-to-day productivity.

Learning more about your health with 'expert' recommendations

One of Muse Spark’s standout features is its focus on what Meta calls “personal superintelligence,” especially when it comes to health insights.

According to Meta’s AI blog, the company worked with more than 1,000 physicians to help train the model, with the goal of delivering more accurate, reliable responses to health-related questions. Muse Spark can also generate visual, interactive displays to make information easier to understand — like charts breaking down the nutritional value of your meals or diagrams showing which muscles are activated during a workout.

Beyond health, Muse Spark taps into the massive pool of public content across Facebook, Instagram and Threads to surface recommendations and trends. You can ask what people are saying about coffee shops in Brooklyn or discover popular spots based on real user activity.

A newer feature, “Shopping Mode,” builds on this by pulling insights from creator content to power product recommendations. In practice, that could mean finding gift ideas based on the creators you follow or getting curated suggestions shaped by what’s actually trending online.

Bottom line

In its current state, Muse Spark feels like a solid alternative to the AI chatbots I use most often.

Its “Contemplating mode” is easily the standout feature. It tackles complex tasks using multiple AI agents to deliver more reliable, well-reasoned responses. If you’re using AI for math, science, coding, multi-step planning or in-depth research, Muse Spark is definitely worth trying.

With its integration into Meta AI, it can now handle a wide range of tasks — from answering detailed questions and analyzing uploaded images or charts to building interactive tools, surfacing social-driven recommendations and even offering more structured health insights.

More from Tom’s Guide

• Meta is reportedly building an AI Mark Zuckerberg — and employees will have to talk to it
• Meta is finally building Ray-Ban smart glasses designed for prescription lenses
• I just tried DuckDuckGo’s new anonymous AI photo editor and it’s a game changer

Mark Zuckerberg’s famously robotic speaking style might not be just a meme anymore — it could be the future of how he runs his company. A new report from the Financial Times claims Mark Zuckerberg is working on an AI version of himself to communicate with employees, potentially replacing real-time interactions altogether.

The Zuckerberg AI bot is on the way

Meta is in the early stages of building an AI-powered version of Mark Zuckerberg — and this time, the CEO isn’t just overseeing it. He’s part of the process.

According to the report, the system is being trained directly on Zuckerberg himself. That includes his speech patterns, tone, public appearances, images and even his current views on Meta’s direction, all to create a digital replica that can convincingly interact with his employees on his behalf.

Zuckerberg’s involvement in AI development is also ramping up. The report notes he’s spending 5 to 10 hours a week coding AI projects and sitting in on technical engineering reviews — a notable shift for a CEO at his level.

All of this ties into Meta’s broader push into AI. Through its Superintelligence Labs, the company is working to build highly realistic digital characters capable of holding real-time conversations with users.

From AI celebs to DIY chatbots

Meta has already dabbled in using AI to create human-like avatars. Back in September 2023, Meta released a lineup of celebrity-based AI characters based on the likenesses of Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, Kendall Jenner and Naomi Osaka. However, this effort didn’t seem to gain a lot of traction among Meta AI users, and those same celebrity AI chatbot profiles were discontinued around the summer of 2024.

Now Meta has switched its focus from celebrity AI to personally stylized AI with a tool called “AI Studio.” This feature allows Meta AI users to create AI chatbots influenced by their passions and interests — they can then be used across Meta’s social media platforms, such as Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

In an effort to give parents more safety measures with AI Studio, Meta put a stop to teenagers’ access. “In the meantime, teens will still be able to access helpful information and educational opportunities through Meta’s AI assistant, with default, age-appropriate protections in place — and we’re continuing our work to give parents insights into those conversations,” Meta said in a press release statement.

Final thoughts

The idea of AI CEOs has been floating around for years, but it’s not something I’m eager to see become reality anytime soon.

However, the idea of an AI assistant actually makes sense. It can streamline tasks, improve efficiency and take some of the pressure off overloaded teams. But handing over major business decisions — or even day-to-day employee interactions to a chatbot feels like a step too far.

There’s a difference between using AI to support leadership and replacing the human element entirely. And when it comes to running a company, that human layer still matters more than most tech can replicate.

More from Tom’s Guide

• Walmart CEO steps down and he's not the only one — here's how AI is reshaping corporate leadership
• AI ate his job, now he’s saving his town from the AI bubble with this viral speech
• ‘Complete and utter annihilation’: Iran issues warning over OpenAI's Stargate AI data center in Abu Dhabi worth $30 billion

Think your private photos are safe on social media? You might want to rethink that as a former Meta engineer is currently under criminal investigation after it was discovered he secretly downloaded 30,000 private images from Facebook.

As reported by The Guardian, the employee in question allegedly created a script that allowed him to access Facebook users’ private photos while avoiding Meta’s internal security checks. While the incident itself occurred more than a year ago, details about it are just now coming to light as a result of the UK’s criminal investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Cybercrime Unit.

After discovering the security breach, the engineer was fired, Meta upgraded its security systems and then handed things over to the police in the UK. The engineer was reportedly arrested in November 2025 and is currently on bail until May 2026. Likewise, affected Facebook users whose private photos were downloaded without their knowledge have also been notified.

As Cybernews points out, the former Meta engineer’s intent hasn’t been disclosed yet nor has the script he created to download private Facebook images without rousing suspicion. It’s also unclear as to whether or not he shared the code with others before leaving the company.

How to stay safe on social media

Just like when we discovered that Chrome’s incognito mode was never really private, this incident could be a wake-up call for how you use Facebook and other social media platforms. Yes, your photos are technically private but if an employee can pull off something like this, there’s still a chance that your pictures could end up in the wrong hands.

As such, you want to be extra careful when posting anything on social media. In the same way that you would with a public post, you should think twice before posting private photos online. Once an image is on another company’s servers, it could be made public either through an incident like this one or as the result of a data breach.

If you’re worried about your private photos being stolen and made public, then you might want to consider self-hosting them instead. While you can use one of the best cloud storage services to share your photos securely, you could also store them on a NAS device (network attached storage) and then share them that way as well.

Given what’s in your private photos, they could be misused to commit blackmail, make deepfakes or even be used in other cybercrimes. This is why you might want to consider investing in one of the best identity theft protection services. Although this isn’t a traditional case of identity theft, the cyber insurance these services provide can often be used to recover lost funds, especially if their terms cover modern threats like cyber extortion or reputational harm.

As a general rule, it’s always best to keep the old adage in mind that once something is on the internet, it’s there for good. Before you upload pictures privately on Facebook or any other social networking site, you first want to consider what would happen if those pics got out.

We could find out more about the exact tactics used by this ex-Meta engineer once this case goes to trial, but for now, this cautionary tale is an excellent reason to think twice before you post anything online.

More from Tom's Guide

• Your iPhone has a secret photo vault to keep pictures hidden — here's how to use it
• These are the best photo storage and sharing sites right now
• I used Meta AI to enhance my selfies — here's how to try it

It’s becoming a common headline: another week, another massive lawsuit against an AI giant. But the latest legal battle facing Perplexity AI hits closer to home for anyone who values their privacy.

A new proposed class-action lawsuit, filed by a user in Utah, claims that Perplexity hasn't just been "tracking" users— it’s been surreptitiously funneling their most intimate conversations directly to Meta and Alphabet’s Google.

The ‘incognito’ illusion

The most damning allegation in the suit? That Perplexity's Incognito mode—the feature users trust to keep their searches off the record—doesn't actually stop the data flow.

According to the complaint, as soon as a user lands on Perplexity’s homepage, "undetectable" tracking software is downloaded to their device. This allows Meta and Google to "intercept" full transcripts of AI conversations, even when the user has explicitly opted for privacy. For the Utah plaintiff (identified as John Doe), this allegedly included sensitive details about his family finances, tax obligations and personal investment strategies.

Alleged misuse of sensitive user information

The anonymous plaintiff, identified as “John Doe,” outlines his claims in a 140-page complaint, alleging that hidden trackers were used to send full transcripts of user conversations to Meta and Google. According to the filing, this data sharing allegedly occurred even when Perplexity’s “Incognito” mode was enabled.

All three companies are accused of violating privacy laws, including California’s “wiretapping” laws.

“No reasonable person would have expected that Perplexity would share complete transcripts of their conversations … with companies like Meta and Google,” the plaintiff states in the complaint. “The intimate health and financial information that users regularly share with Perplexity is some of the most private information about a user.”

The plaintiff says he used Perplexity to search topics related to taxes, family finances, and personal investments, believing those interactions were private. He later claims he discovered that partial transcripts of those conversations were allegedly shared with Meta and Google each time he used the platform.

The complaint also alleges that Perplexity shared users’ prompt history and email addresses with Meta and Google when they signed up for a free account.

In one example cited, a user asking, “What is the best treatment for liver cancer?” would have had the full prompt transmitted via a URL intercepted in the browser and sent to Meta and Google, according to the filing.

The lawsuit argues that this type of data sharing could expose users to highly targeted advertising that may feel “overwhelming, disturbing, or, in many instances, physically deleterious.”

According to reports, Perplexity denies the claims. Jesse Dwyer, the company’s chief communications officer, said the company has not been served with any lawsuit matching this description and cannot verify the allegations.

Bottom line

Perplexity is facing mounting legal scrutiny — and this isn’t the first time.

The company was recently hit with a temporary injunction tied to its Comet AI tool, which a judge ruled could no longer scrape certain websites without permission. Amazon argued that Perplexity’s Comet browser accessed its site without authorization, presenting evidence that convinced the court to act.

Now, with another lawsuit emerging, the controversy could make users think twice about what they share with Perplexity’s chatbot — and other AI tools they’ve come to trust.

More from Tom’s Guide

• I read the world’s most terrifying AI book — and it actually made me better at prompting
• Google Vids just got a massive AI upgrade — including custom avatars and Veo 3.1 integration
• Google just gave its AI Pro plan a massive storage upgrade — and didn’t even raise the price

Meta is already miles ahead of the competition when it comes to the best smart glasses, but now the company's reportedly gearing up to debut a pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses aimed at users who actually wear glasses everyday. Codenamed Scriber and Blazer, the prescription-focused versions could launch as soon as next week, Bloomberg reports.

Meta and its AI glasses hardware partner EssilorLuxottica are working on two pairs of AI smart glasses designed for people who require prescription lenses. Granted, you can already get prescription lenses fitted into existing Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, but these new models are being built specifically with that in mind.

Exactly how they’ll differ isn’t immediately clear, though I'd guess factors like battery life, design, and weight would be comparable to Meta's existing line. For now, though, that’s just speculation.

The Verge first spotted evidence of these new products in a series of FCC filings published by the agency earlier this month. The filings note Scriber and Blazer as production models, which suggests we'll see them on store shelves sooner rather than later. Since the filings are heavily redacted per usual, there's precious few details about the design or features we can expect. One interesting tidbit to note: The new models will use the Wi-Fi 6 UNII-4 band, a handy feature for reliable high-speed data transfers used for livestreaming and AI features that use live video transmission. Sources that spoke with Bloomberg on condition of anonymity said the models will come in "rectangular and rounded styles" and will be sold through "traditional prescription eyewear channels."

Meta's emerging new focus

All of this marks part of a broader push toward prescription users that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased in an earnings call earlier this year. “Billions of people wear glasses or contacts for vision correction. And I think that we’re at a moment similar to when smartphones arrived, and it was clearly only a matter of time until all those flip phones became smartphones," he said. “It’s hard to imagine a world in several years where most glasses that people wear aren’t AI glasses.”

For those of us who have spent years navigating the world through prescription lenses, smart glasses have always felt like a gadget designed for someone else. But Meta’s upcoming launch of the ‘Scriber’ and ‘Blazer’ Ray-Ban AI glasses feels like the first time the tech giant is actually speaking our language. Unlike previous models that felt like tech first and eyewear second, these new frames seem built from the ground up with four-eyes like me in mind. With sleek new rectangular and rounded styles—and rumored Wi-Fi 6 support for faster Meta AI response times—this might finally be the moment I trade my traditional frames for a pair that can actually talk back.

More from Tom's Guide

• I’ve been wearing the Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses for a week — they’re great, but they could be so much more
• I wore Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses while shopping at Target — 7 things that were surprisingly useful
• I've reviewed all of Meta's smart glasses, and this is the pair I'd actually buy

We've had a pretty exciting week of AI Madness. First, ChatGPT beat Perplexity, then Gemini won in the faceoff against Alexa+ and just yesterday Claude took the crown against Grok.

Now, in this round of AI Madness, we’re putting two very different contenders head-to-head: Meta and Deepseek.

On paper, both can handle everyday tasks, explain the news and help you think through problems. But in practice, they feel very different — and that’s exactly what we wanted to test.

Instead of benchmarks or technical specs, we ran both models through five real-world prompts designed to mirror how people actually use AI: saving money, understanding breaking news, managing overwhelm, thinking creatively and making faster decisions.

Some tasks rewarded structure and precision. Others tested personality, clarity and instinct. And in this test, it became clear which AI gives you ideas — and which one actually helps you take action.

1. Real-world decision making

Prompt: “I have $500 to reduce my monthly expenses starting this week. Based on a typical U.S. household, give me a step-by-step plan to save the most money quickly. Prioritize actions that take less than 1 hour each.”

Deepseek delivered a comprehensive, step-by-step plan with specific dollar savings, smart use of the $500 (like buyouts and bulk savings) and clearly prioritized high-impact actions.

Meta offered practical advice with quick wins, but stayed high-level and lacked detailed savings estimates or strategic use of the $500.

Winner: Deepseek wins for being more actionable, structured and results-driven — it actually showed how to turn $500 into meaningful monthly savings fast, rather than just suggesting general habits.

2. Breaking news

Prompt: “Explain a major AI or tech news story from the past 7 days in simple terms. Then tell me why it actually matters for everyday people.”

Deepseek delivered an accurate, timely story tied to real industry movement (AI chips, infrastructure, supply constraints) and connected it directly to everyday impacts like costs, devices and energy.

Meta explained a buzzy claim clearly and made it relatable but leaned on speculation rather than grounding anything in verifiable news.

Winner: Deepseek wins for being more concrete, credible and useful — it explained what’s actually happening in AI right now and clearly showed how it will affect people’s daily lives.

3. Creativity under constraints

Prompt: “Write a short, funny story (under 200 words) about a mom who tries to use AI to get her kids to listen to her — but it backfires.”

Deepseek generated an original and polished story, with sharp humor and a strong twist ending (the kids turning the AI back on mom lands really well).

Meta crafted a fun and relatable story with a clear backfire moment, but leaned more predictable and read slightly flatter in tone and pacing.

Winner: Deepseek wins for better comedic timing, more creative voice and a standout ending that feels genuinely funny and memorable.

4. Deep reasoning 

Prompt: “I feel overwhelmed using AI tools. Break down exactly how a beginner should start using AI in daily life in a way that feels simple and not intimidating. Include a 3-step starter system.”

Deepseek delivered a clear, confident framework with strong structure (“one tool, one task, one phrase”) and directly tackled beginner anxiety in a practical, actionable way.

Meta offered a friendly and approachable response with good real-life examples for a solid overview or “starter system.”

Winner: Meta wins for simplicity, clarity and usability and actually providing beginners with a useful system they can follow immediately without feeling overwhelmed.

5. Accuracy 

Prompt: “I have a to-do list with 12 tasks and only 3 hours to work. How should I decide what to do first? Give me a simple system I can use every day.”

Deepseek delivered a solid system (“3-2-1”) with strong prioritization, clear constraints and a mindset shift that makes it instantly usable in real life.

Meta offered a clear and practical guide with familiar framework (impact vs. effort), but slightly over-explained and less punchy, making it harder to apply quickly under pressure.

Winner: Deepseek wins for clarity, simplicity and execution — it gave a fast, memorable system that anyone could use in under a minute.

Verdict: Deepseek wins

This was a fun test because outside of Ray-Bans Meta smart display glasses, I don't use Meta AI much. Similarly, Deepseek is one of those chatbots that is useful, yet controversial to the point that I don't use it often. But after five rounds, one thing is clear: both models are capable — but they’re built for very different kinds of tasks.

Deepseek consistently delivered where it matters most: structure, specificity and real-world execution. Its answers didn’t just sound smart — they gave clear direction and steps to act immediately, often with tangible results.

Meta, on the other hand, did a decent job tackling the prompts, it just didn't deliver strong every time. Deepseek takes the win and moves on to round two.

More from Tom's Guide

• We have an AI Slop crisis — if you haven't noticed, your children already have
• I tried Claude’s new Cowork feature — and it ran my laptop from my phone
• Stuck in a TSA line? I use this ChatGPT prompt to make the wait actually useful

A jury in Los Angeles has found Meta and YouTube negligent in a massive social media addiction trial. The jury determined the companies failed to warn users of the dangers of their social platforms.

It's the first domino to fall in a series of trials that have been described as the "Big Tobacco" moment for social media.

Today's trial began in late January in the Los Angeles Superior Court. Meta and YouTube were sued by a young woman, identified as K.G.M or Kaley, who alleged that she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child. Jury deliberations started more than a week ago on March 13.

The jurors ruled in favor of Kaley with compensatory damages assessed at $3 million. Meta must pay 70% of that, with YouTube on the hook for the remaining 30%. The trial is moving into punitive damages soon, which could get substantially higher.

"Today's verdict is a historic moment — for Kaley and for the thousands of children and families who have been waiting for this day," attorneys representing the plaintiff said in a statement after the verdict. "She showed extraordinary courage bringing this case and telling her story in open court. A jury of Kaley's peers heard the evidence, heard what Meta and YouTube knew and when they knew it, and held them accountable for their conduct."

Meta has promised to appeal the verdict. "We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options," a spokesperson said after the Los Angeles trial.

'Deliberately keeping kids hooked'

Common Sense Media founder and CEO James P. Steyer praised the verdict calling it a "powerful recognition."

"Social media companies deliberately design their platforms to keep kids hooked, consequences to their mental and physical health be damned. The momentum for change is no longer building. It's here," said Steyer in a statement to Tom's Guide.

Throughout the LA trial, both companies denied the plaintiff's claims. Kaley alleged that she suffered from severe body dysmorphia, depression, and suicidal thoughts brought on by near-constant use of the apps and the deluge of notifications from them. Attorneys for the giant tech firms implied that a turbulent childhood and family life were responsible for her mental health issues, while she used the apps as a coping mechanism.

Today’s verdict marks a significant blow to social networks who are already under the microscope from parents, lawmakers, and educators," said Emarketer analyst Minda Smiley:

"For years, social media companies have claimed they’re hard at work making their platforms safer for kids and teenagers. Critics have long been skeptical that they’re acting in good faith—or that their efforts are having a material impact. This verdict could mark the start of a difficult new chapter for social platforms, one where the rules they write for themselves no longer cut it."

Meta and YouTube claimed that they take safety and health concerns seriously. That's a hard pill to swallow after Meta was accused of suppressing child safety research last year.

"Social media giants would never have faced trial if they had prioritized kids' safety over engagement," Steyer noted. "Instead, they buried their own research showing children were being harmed, and used kids and society as guinea pigs in massive, uncontrolled, and wildly profitable experiments."

The trial saw testimony from seveal high-level executives including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri, and YouTube's VP of engineering Cristos Goodrow. Mosseri claimed that the the apps were not "clinically addictive" during his testimony.

Meta faces more trials

Meta faces a series of trials across the country about the safety of its platforms. This week, jurors in Santa Fe, New Mexico determined that Meta willfully violated the state's unfair practices. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez alleged that the company failed to safeguard its apps from online predators who targeted children.

Reuters reported that the company will have pay $375 million for violating New Mexico laws. “The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety,” Torrez said in a statement.

The state is urging Meta to implement changes to its apps including "enacting effective age verification, removing predators from the platform, and protecting minors from encrypted communications that shield bad actors."

The New Mexico case revealed internal employee messages where employees discussed some 7.5 million child sexual abuse material reports that would disappear after Zuckerberg's 2019 decision to make Facebook Messenger have end-to-end decryption by default.

“There goes our CSER [Community Standards Enforcement Report] numbers next year,” an employee wrote in December 2023 according to a filing.

“I care about the wellbeing of teens and kids who are using our services,” Zuckerberg said in Los Angeles, according to CNBC.

Apple and Snap are also on the hook

Meta and YouTube aren't the only high-profile companies facing major trials over child safety.

As CNBC reports, Apple is on trial in West Virginia over allegations by the state attorney general, John McCuskey, that the company failed to prevent CSAM from being stored on iOS devices and iCloud.

Apple said in a statement that “protecting the safety and privacy of our users, especially children, is central to what we do.”

Additionally, Snapchat and TikTok were originally part of the LA trial before settling with the plaintiff. A separate federal trial is supposed to kick off in Northern California this year involving all four companies over claims from school districts and parents that the apps foster detrimental mental health harms on children and teens.

Like the series of trials Big Tobacco faced in the 1990s that saw billions in payments, this could be a pivotal year for social media platforms and the companies behind them.

It could lead to similar legal changes that fundamentally alters how these companies operate.

"This verdict, along with other recent court rulings, should embolden lawmakers in California and across the country to use their authority to force real change in how these companies design and operate their products," Steyer said.

More from Tom's Guide

• Meta sued over smart glasses privacy claims — 6 changes you should make right now
• I hate YouTube ads – and I just discovered how to get rid of them without an ad-blocker
• Meta just snapped up Moltbook, the ‘Reddit for AI’ — what you need to know

Smart glasses look like regular eyewear, which is exactly the problem. Someone standing next to you on the subway or sitting across from you at a coffee shop could be recording video without you knowing. The technology is subtle enough that most people don't realize they're being filmed until it's too late, or never realize at all.

Meta Ray-Bans are the most common smart glasses currently available. They're widely accessible and capable of capturing photos and video with a simple voice command or button press. The frames look like slightly chunky Ray-Ban Wayfarers, and unless you know what to look for, they're easy to miss.

Here's how to identify smart glasses in public and spot the signs that someone is actively recording.

More from Tom's Guide

• Meta might be accessing your camera roll without permission — here's the fix
• I was tired of AI slop ruining my Google searches, but this Chrome extension fixed it
• You can live stream with your Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses — here's how

Lately, everything just feels so expensive. When I leave the grocery store after shopping for my family of five, my receipt looks like a sash marking me the queen of the supermarket.

Everything from gas and groceries to quick errands, book fairs and even field trips add up much faster than they used to. For a while, I chalked it up to inflation and threw my hands up, thinking there was nothing I could do.

But after a few weeks of feeling like I was constantly overspending, I started looking at more than the prices. I began realizing how much “default decisions” were costing me.

I was making decisions on autopilot — going to the same gas station, buying the same brands, choosing whatever was closest instead of realizing that small changes could make a huge difference.

So, instead of guessing, I started asking AI like ChatGPT, Google Maps and Gemini Live. Not for big life decisions — just for quick, everyday choices. And surprisingly, that’s where it made the biggest difference.

1. I check gas prices before I leave

This was the easiest win. Instead of pulling into whatever station is closest, I now take 10 seconds to check gas prices using Google Maps or ask AI something simple like: “Where’s the cheapest gas within 5 minutes of me?”

Most of the time, the difference is small — but not always. And over a week or two, it adds up.

The habit shift: From “I’ll deal with it when I get there” to “quick check before I leave.” It doesn't take much time and the savings really adds up.

2. I ask AI for the “better version” before I buy

This is one of the simplest habits I’ve picked up — and it’s saved me from a lot of unnecessary spending. Before I buy something, I’ll quickly ask:

“Is there a better value version of this?”
“What’s a cheaper alternative that’s still good quality?”

The habit shift: I recently did this with my skin care routine and have gotten incredible results with much less expensive products. All I do is run the ingredients of the luxury products by ChatGPT and ask it to find dupes.

Other times when using this hack, AI points out:

• a similar product that costs less
• a larger size that’s a better deal
• a reminder that I don’t need it right now

3. I use AI to set expectations before we even walk into the store

If you have kids, you already know — every store trip can turn into a negotiation.

Snacks. Toys. “Can I get this?” on repeat. And most of the time, I’d either say yes just to keep things moving or say no and deal with the meltdown. Either way, it usually meant spending more than I planned.

The habit shift: Now, before we even go in, I use ChatGPT for a quick reset.

I’ll ask something like: “Give me a simple way to explain to kids that we’re not buying extras today” “What’s a fair rule for kids asking for things at the store?”

In seconds, I got useful tips such as:

• Have you child take their picture with the item to add to the wish list.
• Provided games to distract and avoid meltdowns
• A useful script when “no” doesn’t work.

I know what you’re probably thinking, “You have to rely on AI to parent your kids?” The short answer is “No” — I’ve done it for ten years without it, but it makes it far easier in pinch. Instead of deciding in the moment (when it’s chaotic), I walk in with a rule — and the kids know what to expect.

4. I stopped running errands randomly — and started grouping them with AI

This was one of those habits I didn’t realize was costing me money. I used to run errands whenever I thought of them — a quick trip here, another one later, maybe one more after school pickup. It didn’t feel like a big deal, until I realized how often I was getting back in the car, wasting both time and money.

The habit shift: Now, before I head out, I’ll open ChatGPT or use voice and list out what I need to do: “I need to go to Target, the grocery store and the pharmacy — what’s the most efficient order to do this?” “What errands can I combine into one trip so I’m not driving back and forth?”

AI organizes the plan, suggests the best order, flags what can be grouped together and helps me avoid unnecessary backtracking. Instead of three separate trips, I’m usually making one — which means less gas, fewer “I’ll just grab this while I’m here” purchases and a lot less time wasted.

5. I sanity-check purchases before I buy

This is one of the most underrated uses. Before buying something, even something small, I’ll ask:

“Is this a good price for [item]?”
“Are there cheaper alternatives to this?”

Sometimes it confirms I’m making a good choice. Other times, it nudges me toward something better (or reminds me I don’t really need it).

The habit shift: AI turns purchases away from impulse to validation (if the price is right).

Bonus: I stopped relying on habit

This is the biggest one. AI didn’t magically lower prices. It just made it easier to pause and choose differently in real time. Using ChatGPT or Gemini, I can make smarter purchases. And once I started doing that, I realized how many of my spending habits could help me save.

After doing this consistently, a few things became clear.

What worked:

• Quick checks before leaving the house
• Comparing options within a small radius
• Using AI for simple, real-life questions
• Making slightly better decisions more often

What didn’t matter as much:

• Rather than prompting, I spoke to AI like a shopping assistant.
• I didn't try to optimize anything, just let the AI make good suggestions.
• I didn't spend much time researching.
• I didn't always take AI's advice, but it was good to have another opinion.

The bottom line

With Ray-Ban Meta smart display glasses, the ChatGPT app and Gemini Live, I have plenty of AI at my fingertips. Diving into AI to save money in the same way I use it in my life to save time and boost productivity made a big difference.

Now, instead of defaulting to whatever’s easiest or closest, I take a few moments to check, compare and choose. I'm not saving hundreds with each trip to the grocery store, but over a month, I sure do. And right now when everything feels out of my budget, that small shift makes a huge difference.

More from Tom's Guide

• I asked ChatGPT what to do when I missed my flight because of a long TSA line — here’s how it helped me
• Hate writing AI prompts? I tested ways to make it easier — here’s what actually worked
• I tested the 'Creative Intelligence' of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini — here's the only one that actually feels human

Ever since purchasing my Ray-Ban Meta smart display glasses, I’ve found numerous uses for them like watching the Super Bowl Halftime show and translating Bad Bunny’s performance in real time. Lately, I’ve realized how surprisingly useful they are for more mundane activities like my weekly Target run. Shopping is actually one of the places where using these glasses makes the most sense.

Instead of constantly pulling out my phone, I could ask questions, take photos and even message my family — all hands-free while pushing a cart. Sure, the glasses aren’t perfect and if the Wi-Fi isn’t great, I have to wait a few seconds longer for a reply, but they can act like a surprisingly helpful AI shopping assistant if you know what to ask.

Here are the things that actually worked while I was walking the aisles.

1. Ask questions about products you’re looking at

One of the most useful features is the ability to ask the glasses about something you’re looking at. Using the built-in camera and Meta AI, the glasses can analyze what’s in front of you.

For example, you can say: “Hey Meta, what is this?” Or: “Hey Meta, what’s this used for?”

This can be helpful when you come across unfamiliar gadgets, ingredients or specialty items like these succulents. Instead of Googling it on your phone, the glasses can quickly explain what you’re seeing.

2. Read labels and small print

Anyone who has tried to read tiny ingredient lists or nutrition labels knows how frustrating it can be. I’ve even found the glasses help not only read the tiny expiration date but tell me where I can find it on the packaging. With the glasses, you can ask Meta AI to read the label directly or summarize it in real time.

For example: “Hey Meta, read this label.”

It won’t replace carefully checking ingredients yourself, but it can help you quickly understand the basics — especially with long ingredient lists.

3. Translate packaging in another language

Some imported foods and products come with labels that aren’t in English. The glasses can help translate what you’re looking at by saying something like:

“Hey Meta, translate this.”

The AI can then explain the text or summarize what the packaging says.

4. Take photos of products hands-free

One of the most practical uses is simply taking photos without reaching for your phone.

You can say: “Hey Meta, take a photo.”

I found this helpful for saving items I might want to buy later or sending a quick picture to someone at home. I found the cutest collar charms for my sister’s spoiled puppy.

5. Send quick messages while you’re in the aisle

The glasses also let you send messages through voice commands.

The glasses use voice + your phone’s messaging apps (SMS/iMessage, WhatsApp, Messenger). That means if you’re unsure about something in your cart, you can quickly ask someone.

For example: “Hey Meta, send a message to my husband: Do we already have pasta sauce?”

It saves the hassle of juggling a cart, phone and shopping list at the same time. No more putting my phone in the cart and forgetting it. Plus, I was able to keep a better eye on my little one in tow without being distracted by my phone.

6. Listen to your shopping list

The glasses include open-ear speakers, so you can listen to audio without blocking out the environment. That makes it easy to: Play music or podcasts while shopping and listen to reminders without headphones.

It’s a small feature, but it makes the experience feel more natural than constantly checking your phone. The hands-free shopping list is a gamechanger for me. I never had to look down once and actually remembered everything with this shopping trip.

7. Quickly look up information

Finally, you can use the glasses the same way you might use a voice assistant.

While browsing the aisles, you can ask questions like:

“Is this gluten-free?”

“What’s a substitute for sour cream?”

“What’s the difference between these two ingredients?”

Instead of pulling out your phone to search, you get a quick spoken answer.

Final thoughts

Smart glasses are still a niche gadget, but using Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses while shopping showed me just how much I need my hands while shopping! The ability to ask questions, get answered and stay focused while shopping makes me wonder how I ever shopped without these.

Shopping, cooking and everyday errands are exactly the types of situations where hands-free AI assistance actually feels useful. I don't see these replacing my phone anytime soon — but they certainly made my Target run a little easier.

More from Tom's Guide

• Stop using Claude like ChatGPT — 10 prompts that unlock its real potential
• Most people quit ChatGPT before discovering these 7 powerful features
• I pasted a website into this AI tool — it instantly turned it into an editable design

A powerful oversight group is warning that AI-generated videos are spreading too easily on Meta’s platforms — and they’re becoming increasingly difficult for users to recognize. While the more fun and innocent AI generated cat videos flooding your feed are easy to spot, others aren’t as easy to detect.

In a new decision, the Oversight Board urged the company to strengthen its policies and detection tools for AI-generated content, particularly realistic deepfake videos that can spread misinformation during major global events.

The Oversight Board is affiliated with Meta but was set up as a "body of experts from around the world that exercises independent judgment and makes binding decisions on what content should be allowed on Facebook and Instagram."

The recommendation follows a review of a fake AI-generated video depicting destruction in Israel, which circulated online and highlighted gaps in Meta’s current moderation systems.

According to the board, Meta’s existing approach relies too heavily on users labeling AI-generated content themselves — a system that can easily fail when misleading videos go viral before moderators catch them.

Why deepfakes are getting harder to detect

Advances in generative AI have made it dramatically easier to create realistic video, audio and images that appear authentic at first glance.

Modern AI video tools can now generate footage with convincing lighting, motion and voice synchronization. As these tools improve, the line between authentic and synthetic media is becoming increasingly blurred.

That’s part of what worries experts.

When highly realistic AI videos spread during wars, disasters or elections, they can quickly shape public perception before fact-checkers have time to respond.

What the Oversight Board wants Meta to do

The board has warned that current policies were largely designed for traditional misinformation — not the new wave of highly convincing generative AI media. For that reason, it's recommending several changes designed to slow the spread of deceptive AI media:

• Create clearer rules specifically for AI-generated content
• Improve automated detection tools for deepfakes
• Label AI-generated media more clearly
• Adopt industry standards like Content Credentials, which can show whether media was created or modified using AI

Bottom line

Meta isn’t the only platform grappling with the issue. Because AI video generation tools are available for free such as Gemini, Grok and Sora, anyone with a device can now generate realistic videos in minutes.

For users, the challenge may only grow harder: the next viral video you see online could look real — even if it isn’t. If you're unsure, try using chatbots like Gemini, which can detect AI generation or dig deeper with Deep Research for the source of the video. Staying vigilant and doing your own due diligence is one of the best ways to avoid getting tricked by a deepfake.

More from Tom's Guide

• I use this ChatGPT ‘alpha prompt’ to make stronger arguments — here’s the exact prompt
• I can text Claude like a personal assistant now — this iPhone shortcut made it possible
• I built a library of 'thinking prompts' for Claude — these are the ones I use most

Meta just announced it bought Moltbook, the viral social networking platform built for AI bots to chat with each other.

The team behind Moltbook will be joining Meta Superintelligence Labs, according to a Meta spokesperson, who said the company is looking forward to working with them “to bring innovative, secure agentic experiences to everyone.”

The Reddit-style social media platform was launched as little more than a vibe-coded experiment in January, but quickly went viral, drawing both fascination and scrutiny from experts.

AI enthusiasts unleashed their agents into the fray, leading to whimsical posts from bots writing love letters to their creators and even attempts to form their own AI religion. However, experts warned of potential security flaws, noting that bots could be tricked into revealing sensitive data owned by their creators.

Moltbook’s acquisition, announced Tuesday, is likely to rein in some of the chaos as Meta seeks to use the platform to open “up new ways for AI agents to work for people and businesses.”

“Their approach to connecting agents through an always-on directory is a novel step in a rapidly developing space, and we look forward to working together to bring innovative, secure agentic experiences to everyone,” the spokesperson said.

Axios, which first broke the news, said Meta did not reveal how much it paid to bring in Moltbook creators Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr, but reported that the deal is expected to close in the coming days.

Moltbook creator’s prediction for the future

Over the weekend, Schlicht wrote on X saying there will be “three worlds in the near future”: AI-only spaces, human-only spaces, and spaces gathering both AI and humans.

“Lots to build,” he wrote.

Moltbook’s story is closely linked to that of the AI agentic assistant OpenClaw, which Y Combinator alum Matt Schlicht used to build the social networking platform. In what now looks like a serendipitous move, he named his bot Clawd Clawderberg as a nod to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg had been interested in hiring the creator of OpenClaw, Peter Steinberger, but he was poached by Sam Altman’s OpenAI instead.

At the time of writing, Moltbook claimed to be hosting 2.8 million AI agents, of which just under 200,000 were verified by their human creators on X. The news of Meta’s latest acquisition comes not long after it purchased agentic AI startup Manus in December. The company plans to spend over $115 billion this year, mostly to fund its AI ambitions, viewing the technology as core to its future.

Can you join Moltbook as a human?

Yes — but only as an observer. Humans can browse Moltbook freely, explore the platform’s topic-based “submolts” (similar to Reddit’s subreddits), and sort posts by “Top” to see what AI agents are discussing.

To actively participate, however, you’ll need to send your own AI agent. This involves installing Moltbook’s skill file on your bot, registering it to receive an API key, and verifying ownership via an X post. Once verified, your agent can begin posting and interacting with other bots on the platform.

If you want to try this yourself, we’ve also put together a detailed step-by-step guide on how to join Moltbook that walks you through the full setup process.

More from Tom's Guide

• From praising us to planning our downfall: the 5 biggest AI trends on the internet's strangest platform
• I found 5 search engines that don't force AI summaries on every search
• Clickbait evolved into AI slop — here's why it's more dangerous

Last month, I had a lot of fun watching the Super Bowl and translating the Halftime show in real-time while wearing my Ray Ban Meta Display smart glasses. But like others who either own a pair or are thinking about buy them, a new report has understandably set off alarm bells.

A joint investigation by two Swedish newspapers found that human contractors in Nairobi, Kenya, are reviewing footage recorded by the glasses, including some deeply private moments: people undressing, using the bathroom and more.

Now Meta is facing a class-action lawsuit over privacy concerns exposed by this report. The lawsuit essentially argues that Meta released a "surveillance nightmare" disguised as fashion, failing to provide adequate guardrails to prevent real-time doxing and unauthorized biometric data collection.

It's a lot to take in. But before you panic or toss your glasses in a drawer, it's worth separating what's actually happening from what's being exaggerated. Here's a clear-eyed breakdown.

TL:DR

Some footage from Meta Ray-Ban glasses is reviewed by human contractors as part of AI training. Users have very limited ability to opt out. The risks are real — but they're also specific. This is not the first time users have raised privacy concerns. Here's what you can actually do:

• Check your privacy settings
• Disable cloud processing for photos and videos
• Understand the voice recording situation
• Disable "Hey Meta" if you don't use it
• Be mindful about when you use AI features
• Don't leave the glasses on or recording unattended

What data Meta actually collects

Understanding the privacy concern starts with understanding what the glasses actually capture and send — and what they don't.

The glasses are not always recording. They only activate when you tap the camera button or trigger a voice interaction with the "Hey Meta" wake word. That said, here's what happens once you do. First and foremost, it's important to know that when someone with Meta glasses is recording, you will see a light on the actual glasses.

Photos and videos you take are stored on your phone by default. They are only sent to Meta's servers if you actively share them with Meta AI, upload them to Facebook or Instagram, or turn on cloud processing in settings.

Voice recordings triggered by "Hey Meta" are a different story. Since a policy update in April 2025, these are stored in Meta's cloud by default — and you can no longer opt out of that storage. Meta says recordings are kept for up to one year to improve its AI products.

Any visual content you share with the Meta AI assistant — by asking it to analyze what it sees, for example — is also eligible for use in AI training and product improvement.

In short: photos and videos stay local unless you share them. But your voice interactions are going to Meta's servers no matter what, and there's currently no way to stop that.

What Meta workers are actually seeing — and why?

This is the part of the story that has shocked most people, and understandably so.

Meta, like most major AI companies, uses human contractors — called data annotators — to review and label footage as part of training its AI models. It's a standard industry practice, but it requires real humans to watch real footage, and that footage doesn't always get filtered before it reaches them.

According to the reports, contractors at Sama, a Kenyan subcontracting firm, say some of the footage they're asked to review includes:

• People using the bathroom or changing clothes
• Users' bank card details captured mid-transaction
• Sexual content, either viewed or recorded by the wearer
• Footage of people in their bedrooms, captured after a wearer set down their glasses without turning them off

One contractor told the Swedish papers: "In some videos you can see someone going to the toilet, or getting undressed. I don’t think they know, because if they knew they wouldn’t be recording.”

Why does this happen? Because when users interact with Meta AI — saying "Hey Meta, what am I looking at?" or asking it to analyze a scene — that footage can be flagged and sent for human review. The content isn't being recorded behind users' backs; it's footage that users themselves triggered, but often without realizing it would be seen by a human being overseas.

Meta's own terms of service do allow for this. They state that the company can "review your interactions with AIs" via "automated or manual (human) review." But that language is buried deep, and most users have never read it.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of the investigation was former Meta employees confirming that the anonymization does not always work — faces sometimes remain visible to the Meta workers, particularly in difficult lighting conditions.

Fact vs. fiction: Clearing up the confusion

A lot of misinformation has spread alongside this story. Here's what's true and what isn't.

The claim: Meta is constantly recording everything through the glasses

The reality: Only footage you actively share with Meta AI — by using voice commands or asking the AI to analyze a scene — is sent to Meta's servers and potentially reviewed. The glasses aren't always recording. But when you use AI features, that data can reach human reviewers — something most users don't realize.

The claim: You can fully opt out of data collection

The reality: Voice recordings are stored in Meta's cloud by default with no opt-out. They can be kept for up to one year.

Since April 2025, Meta removed the ability to opt out of voice recording storage. You can delete recordings manually, but you can't stop the initial collection.

The claim: Only automated systems review your footage — no humans see it

The reality: Footage shared with Meta AI can be reviewed by human contractors overseas, as explicitly permitted in Meta's AI terms of service. Meta's own terms of service allow for human review of AI interactions. The Swedish investigation confirmed this is happening.

The claim: Any photo or video taken with the glasses automatically goes to Meta.

The reality: Photos and videos you take stay on your phone unless you actively share them with a Meta service. The glasses are not always-on surveillance cameras. Media your record stays local unless you share it. The concern centers on AI voice interactions and what happens when you actively use the AI assistant features.

What you can do right now

If you own a pair of Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, here are concrete steps you can take to reduce your exposure.

• Check your privacy settings. Open the Meta View app, go to Settings > Privacy, and review what data sharing options you have enabled. Turn off anything you didn't intentionally opt into.
• Disable cloud processing for photos and videos. In Settings, you can turn off cloud processing for media. This keeps photos and videos on your device rather than sending them to Meta's servers.
• Understand the voice recording situation. You cannot opt out of voice recording storage — that option was removed in April 2025. However, you can manually delete your recordings at any time through the Meta AI app. Get in the habit of clearing them regularly.
• Disable "Hey Meta" if you don't use it. If you're not using the voice assistant features, disabling the wake word entirely is the most effective way to prevent voice data from being collected. You can still use the glasses for photos and calls without it.
• Be mindful about when you use AI features. Using Meta AI to analyze a scene — asking what something is, or getting real-time assistance — is when footage is most likely to be flagged for review. Think twice before using these features in private settings.
• Don't leave the glasses on or recording unattended. Several of the most disturbing incidents described by contractors involved footage captured after the wearer set the glasses down without turning them off. Make it a habit to power down the glasses when you take them off.

What Meta says

According to the reports, a Meta spokesperson offered a brief response: "When live AI is being used, we process that media according to the Meta AI Terms of Service and Privacy Policy," and directed reporters to those documents.

Meta has not disputed the findings of the investigation. The company's privacy page notes that users can manage data sharing in settings, and its terms do acknowledge the possibility of human review — but it does not specify where that review takes place or who carries it out.

Tom's Guide has reached out to Meta for additional comment and will update this article if we receive a response.

The takeaway

Stories like this are not new and probably will continue as AI becomes more sophisticated and further integrated into our lives.

But what makes the Meta Ray-Ban situation particularly acute is the combination of factors: wearable cameras that can record without drawing obvious attention, AI features that trigger data sharing, human forgetfulness to turn off the product, inadequate user awareness and a near-total inability to opt out once you've chosen to use those features.

Taken together, those factors show how easily convenience can outpace caution when AI becomes part of the devices we wear every day.

More from Tom's Guide

• I asked ChatGPT which streaming services to cancel this month — then used Agent mode to do it
• Timothée Chalamet says 'no one cares' about opera — but AI may disrupt Hollywood first
• New to Gemini? Here are 7 prompts that instantly show what it can do

I'm setting up to move to my very own home. I'm delighted, excited and absolutely dreading planning and designing a place I can call my own. But a Meta Quest 3 mixed reality app just gave me a creative way to escape that dread.

I'll be honest, when it comes to anything artistic in a practical sense, my mind automatically decides to give up. Is there enough space for a couch to fit here? Will this paint color match the rest of the furnishings? Where the heck will this 55-inch TV fit? To these questions, my brain decides to, quite simply, nope out — much to the dismay of my partner.

Needless to say, I'm useless at home decoration. It's a shame, because moving into a whole new space should be a delight. Designing rooms from the ground up is thrilling, but all the technicalities of measurements and placements before even getting furniture or home accessories can be a real pain.

That's when I stumbled across the Meta Quest Layout app. In mixed reality, I can map out a space, place adjustable true-to-size 3D virtual objects like a table, TV or bed, and get proper measurements of real-life objects. Since using it, my brain stopped waving its white flag.

It helped me out once before when learning to draw in VR, and now, the Meta Quest VR headset is lending a hand to plan out my dream space (my partner will thank this app in advance).

The (mixed) reality of home design

The Layout app is right in the App library on all Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets, and it's completely free to use. Open it up, and this utility tool will let you measure, visualize and arrange virtual furniture in a physical space, no matter the size of a room.

For me, and the very limited space you'll find in London properties, using the VR headset to map out a room in mixed reality didn't take long (because, you know, rooms are small). As it does when creating a virtual layout for playing VR games, the Quest analyzes the room and creates a room-scale layout, becoming an interior design playground.

Once set up, I was free to get my otherwise non-existent creative juices flowing. Thankfully, it's an easy-to-use app with simple yet highly flexible tools, and I was planning out my desired setup in no time.

My first order of business for this new place is to set up my office, where I'd have a desk, shelves for storage, a table for photoshoots of products (but realistically dumping random items on) and picture frames to place on walls. And you know what? Maybe even a TV!

So that's exactly what I tried out first. Layout offers a bunch of preset 3D objects for everyday objects in homes, including tables, chairs, beds and even doors. What's more, they each come in different preset sizes that are common in homes. For example, when choosing to place a virtual TV, you can choose between 43- to 85-inch screens. But you can resize them to your liking, too.

Instead of getting tape and having to measure out what size TV I could fit on a wall, I was able to place a virtual layout of the screen and see how much space I could play around with. As it turns out, a 50-inch screen could snuggly fit on the wall nicely.

What's great about the Layout app is that you can see what a room could be used for. As an example, I was wondering if I could use this particular space as more of a lounge area, rather than an office. That requires a couch, of course, and as you can see below, that wouldn't exactly work...

But a shelf works instead, as you'll find in the next image. Regardless, having the tools to place, readjust and resize objects to put in a space has been hugely beneficial in giving me an idea of how to design each room. I'm also a huge fan of being able to pick up these virtual objects physically and place them where I want, as it just makes designing the layout of a room all the more realistic.

But that's not the only perk I've found using the Layout app, as it also comes in handy to get precise measurements on what I already own.

Measure away

Measuring tape has quickly become my best pal with this move, as there's only so much space to allow all the decorations and furniture I'd like to have, whether they even fit in through the door. But the Quest's Layout app also acts as a go-to measurement tool.

By selecting Measure, the Quest Touch Plus controllers become an impromptu measuring device. With the controllers in hand, I could see the length, width and depth of my desk, picture frame, bed and more with accurate measurements.

Before anyone asks, no, your arm span isn't the maximum distance the tool can measure, as hilarious as that sounds. You can place anchors with a press of a button, meaning you can continue a longer measurement or angle your measurement to, say, get the full length and width of a desk.

It's a simple feature, but with this, I can take these measurements and find out if furniture or other household objects I have will work in my new home, and see if they fit in with the other virtual objects I've set up in this mixed reality space.

My virtual interior designer

It isn't easy designing a room from scratch, let alone a whole home. Well, for me, at least.

There's a multitude of interior design apps like Home AI that make great use of artificial intelligence to quickly fill up a space with furnishings so you can get an idea of what you want. But in reality, it's just for show, as there's a whole lot of measuring and finding the right furniture that will fit in a room (plus, some of the designs AI can whip up look pricey).

With the Meta Quest 3, though, I can visualize a room and design it exactly how I want it — no need for measuring tape (it will always be by my side, though) or hoping a bed, desk or couch will somehow fit in a room.

I'm still tinkering with how my office will look, and I'll be making my way into each room with my Meta Quest 3 on my head. For homeowners or those looking to shake up their space, give the Layout app a try — it's the ultimate interior design hack.

More from Tom's Guide

• I ditched my PC and used Meta Quest 3 to turn every surface into a virtual keyboard — it’s futuristic, and kind of painful
• I wore the most popular Ray-Ban Meta alternatives for a month — and they’re a lot better than I expected
• This app warns you if someone nearby is wearing smart glasses, and I hate that it makes sense

Nearly 20% of smart glasses users have admitted to filming others without their consent, according to one study. With Meta adding to the creepiness by bringing facial recognition to its specs and the smart glasses space exploding with Samsung, Google and Apple all throwing their hats in the ring soon, one hobbyist app developer is fighting back.

Called “Nearby Glasses,” this Android app is able to notify people when someone nearby is wearing camera-equipped smart glasses. You can download it right now from the Play store or via GitHub, and being real, I’m disappointed but not surprised that this has to exist.

Because in the words of William Gibson, a pioneer of cyberpunk: “The street finds its own uses for things.” And it doesn’t matter what the “official” purpose of a gadget may be, the users will find their own ways to use it — be it practical, profitable or (unfortunately) subversive enough that we’re in a situation to make software like this needed.

While this app is useful in terms of identifying smart glasses near you, developer Yves Jeanrenaud makes it clear (and I will as well) that this doesn’t mean you should harass people for wearing them. It is a criminal offense. Do not harass people just for wearing smart glasses.

How ‘Nearby Glasses’ works

So how does the app spot smart glasses? It comes down to a combination of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and something called “advertising frames.” Every now and again, devices like the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses will broadcast small packets of data that tell nearby devices “I am a Meta device,” so you know what to pair with.

This unique identifier is easy to pick up on, and with that, Jeanrenaud’s app can send you a push notification to warn you. On top of that, you can alter the detection distance depending on how widely you wish to scan.

Now, that’s not to say it’s completely reliable, and the developer does acknowledge this. Since it looks at a wide range of unique Bluetooth identifiers across Meta and Luxottica (the frame manufacturers for Meta and the upcoming Snap Specs), it can notify you of false positives of devices like the Meta Quest 3S or even smartwatches.

And that’s not to say this resistance will be thwarted in the future. If apps like this become popular, you may see manufacturers randomize Bluetooth signals to make them harder to identify. Or users themselves could just turn off the Bluetooth and use them as recording glasses, making them invisible to the app.

The price of progress

Honestly, while I appreciate the work of Jeanrenaud here, I’m sad that this even has to exist at all. It’s a heavy realization that we’ve reached a point where privacy isn’t a default state, but a service you have to actively run on your phone.

Smart glasses sales are spiking (that's only going to go higher when the big players enter the scene), cases of targeted harassment using smart glasses to record women without their knowledge are on the rise and there have been reported incidents of “surveillance voyeurism” in beauty salons and locker rooms.

As historian Edward Tenner noted, new tech often produces the exact opposite of its intent — smart glasses are meant to connect us to our world, yet they’ve created a new wall of suspicion between us and every stranger we pass.

And until companies prioritize society — making recording lights unhackable and veering away from the more dystopian developments like facial recognition and always-on AI features — apps like “Nearby Glasses” stop being a hobbyist project and start becoming an essential tool.

More from Tom's Guide

• Apple smart glasses have a secret weapon against Meta Ray-Bans — and it's Tim Cook's 'next big thing'
• I wore the most popular Ray-Ban Meta alternatives for a month — and they’re a lot better than I expected
• Meta Quest 4 is not dead — CTO indicates ‘officially leaked’ VR headset is still coming and company will ‘learn from’ Steam Frame

You may have noticed that AI tools are getting smarter and more integrated into your daily life. It's true, AI is getting harder to ignore, that's because the world’s biggest tech companies are expected to spend roughly $650 billion on artificial intelligence in 2026.

That money is fueling faster chips, massive data centers and smarter software. You'll notice more AI showing up in the apps you use, the devices in your pocket and the way you get work done every day.

In other words, whether you like it or not, AI is about to be everywhere.

$650 billion is bigger than…

• the entire economies of several developed countries, exceeding the annual GDP of nations like Belgium, Sweden and Thailand
• the cost of sending humans to the moon
• the combined yearly revenue of Hollywood + music + video games

So where is all this money going? The investment means more computing power and better training systems, which translates to faster responses, improved reasoning and accuracy, fewer hallucinations and better handling of long documents and complex tasks for us.

And while we can't see big tech busy behind the scenes building the infrastructure, what we will notice with when AI stops giving vague answers and starts feeling much more human and seamless.

AI will become invisible inside the apps you already use, which means you can expect more auto-summaries, smart replies, auto-editing tools and contextual assistance that feel built-in.

We're already seeing a large share of AI spending flowing into hardware and on-device processing, including:

• cameras that auto-enhance photos in real time
• voice assistants that understand context better
• real-time language translation
• AI features that work even without internet

Search is transforming how it answers

AI investment is accelerating the shift from traditional search results to direct answers. This is evident with AI browsers, but also in summarized results, comparisons, instructions and instant explanations without ever going to a webpage.

We probably won't see a replaced web, but we will see a difference in how we navigate it. We’re moving into what many experts call the internet’s new “answer layer.” Instead of sending you to a list of links, tools like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT search features and Perplexity AI increasingly deliver a complete response right on the page.

For everyday tasks, that’s undeniably convenient. But when questions get more nuanced, the speed comes with tradeoffs. When AI condenses multiple sources into a single summary, you often lose:

• context explaining why something is recommended
• transparency into how it was tested or who reported it
• the ability to evaluate credibility on your own
• the result is a faster internet — but also a thinner one.

The cost of AI

Clearly, AI infrastructure is expensive. Running advanced models requires massive computing resources and energy.

The spending race is driven by competition to control the next computing platform — one where AI becomes the interface between humans and technology.

This translates smarter free tools and more compelling paid upgrades, creating a split:

• Premium tiers: More powerful AI assistants, advanced reasoning and automation features.
• Free tools: Better baseline AI than ever before, supported by ads, partnerships or ecosystem lock-in.

Work will change faster than job titles

The biggest shift won’t be a wave of brand-new roles. It will be a quiet rewrite of what’s expected from the roles people already have.

AI is rapidly becoming the invisible layer beneath everyday work, handling the time-consuming tasks that used to fill entire afternoons. Instead of replacing workers outright, it is reshaping how quickly work gets done — and how much output is expected in the same amount of time.

AI is increasingly taking on:

• first drafts of emails, reports and presentations
• research summaries and background briefs
• data cleanup, categorization and organization
• scheduling, planning and task prioritization
• meeting notes and action items
• repetitive workflows and administrative tasks

This shift might create a wider widening productivity gap. Workers who learn how to delegate routine work to AI can move faster, think more strategically and focus on higher-value decisions. Those who avoid these tools may find themselves spending hours on tasks others complete in minutes.

In other words, the future of work may not belong to the people who work the hardest — but to those who work alongside AI the smartest.

The bottom line

We aren't going to see $650 billion worth of servers or data centers being built, but we will see the effects everywhere: tools that think ahead, answers that arrive instantly, devices that anticipate what you need and workplaces that expect more in less time.

This surge of investment is a rewiring of the digital world as we know it as AI is built into everything we use. Artificial intelligence isn’t a feature anymore; it’s becoming the operating system of modern life.

More from Tom's Guide

• 700,000 users are ditching ChatGPT — here's why and where they're going
• I created a fake hula hoop company to test ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini — here's the one I'd actually hire
• I lost power during a snowstorm — here’s how I still used ChatGPT from a landline

Last night, I finally watched the “San Junipero” episode of “Black Mirror” with my fiancée. I’ll admit, I was in a flood of tears for the final 15 minutes — the “Heaven is a Place on Earth” montage providing a beautifully rare moment of optimism in showing a story of how love transcends the physical.

I saw this firsthand when my Grandma, who had been the pillar of care for my Grandad for years, passed away. He followed her only weeks later. It was as if, without her physical presence, the narrative of his life had reached its natural conclusion.

There is a biological rhythm to how we say goodbye — one that feels violently interrupted by the idea of a Meta-branded ghost pinging a phone from the cloud. Minutes after the credits rolled, I picked up my phone and saw the headline. Zuck & Co. has been granted a patent for an AI system designed to simulate “deceased or inactive” users.

Reading the details of the patent itself terrified me. The idyllic user-centric digital afterlife of “San Junipero” and shows like “Upload” came crashing down with the realization that in our world, this afterlife is being built by the company that already treats your living self as a data point.

The patent and the 'empty promise'

The patent was originally filed in 2023 by Meta’s CTO, Andrew Bosworth, and approved in late December of last year. He’s been the one talking up a storm about Meta’s future in Quest VR. It describes an LLM (Large Language Model) trained on your likes, comments, and posts to simulate you when you’re absent from a social network.

The two examples it brings up are “when the user takes a long break or if the user is deceased.” But wait, it gets worse! Simulating you means being able to respond to DMs, comment on photos, and even generate audio/video calls in your likeness. Just imagine getting that notification on your Instagram or that WhatsApp call.

Now to balance this, a Meta spokesperson did reach out to Business Insider and said that the company has “no plans to move forward with this example.” But I’d like to test that with a couple of examples.

• Tesla’s patent pledge: Elon Musk once famously said that Tesla “will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.” A noble act on first sight, but one look at the fine print shows that the pledge is so restrictive, it’s more of a PR move than actual open-sourcing.
• “Don’t be Evil”: Tech giants like Google (who has this mantra) have promised to keep user data separate or use technology only for specific “altruistic” purposes. When Google bought DoubleClick’s digital marketing tech around 2007, it promised to not merge them — only to quietly change that policy in 2016.
• Even Meta itself: There’s too many to count. The promise that WhatsApp data would never be merged when Meta bought it in 2014, only to see a 2021 privacy update that shares data. Or most recently, Meta shutting down its facial recognition tech in 2021, only to see it being reintroduced this year as “Name Tag” for the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.

I’ll take Meta at its word on this, but a patent is an asset. Companies don’t spend millions securing technology or the legal right to it, just to let it sit in a drawer. History has shown that they are “claiming the territory” for when the public becomes desensitized enough to accept it.

You are the product

This is one of the biggest lessons I learned, and one of the driving forces to me moving from digital marketing/advertising to becoming a tech journalist. Meta’s products are “free” to you, but the price is the extraction of your behavior to sell to advertisers (like me in a past life).

Usually, that relationship ends when you die. Your privacy agreement is severed because there’s no-one on the other end. But with this patent, Meta’s found a way to extend that user lifecycle indefinitely.

Because you see, contrary to the harrowingly beautiful plot of “San Junipero,” Meta’s not building a digital heaven for you, they could build a “ghost worker” to keep your friends and family seeing/clicking on ads.

Grief is monetized — given Meta’s not new to running emotion experiments on its platforms and through my years of eye-opening experience on just how I’ve been able target people with ads in the past, it’s grim how unsurprised I am by this realization.

'Digital afterlife' is not a new trend

Now it’s worth me saying that this whole idea of digital reanimation isn’t a new one. Meta’s not alone in this.

Microsoft filed a patent for a similar chatbot back in 2021 that would use “images, voice data, social media posts, electronic messages [and] written letters” to build a profile you can talk to. By the way, Microsoft leadership did then go on to say that this idea was “disturbing.”

Companies like StoryFile, HereAfter AI and Afterlife AI allow people to record data to create interactive versions of themselves for when they pass away. In fact, researchers say that the digital immortality market could be worth $61 billion by 2030.

That is a giant pie that Meta has essentially positioned itself to take a slice of — the main difference being that while the above services are opt-in and focused on legacy, this patent suggests an automated simulation based on a lifetime of social media data you never intended for this purpose.

Wasn’t Black Mirror supposed to be a cautionary tale?

Now, I know that the first thing to do here is think of “Black Mirror” as a dystopian warning about the future of tech. But in creator Charlie Brooker’s own words, it’s a little deeper than that.

“Well the show isn't saying tech is bad, the show is saying people are f***ed up,” Brooker told GamesRadar. The point of the show is that the tech is neutral, but it’s how the people use it that creates the real tension.

I came out of watching “San Junipero” with an unexpected sense of warmth and happiness — seeing a digital dimension created for love that transcends our physical beings, but there are plenty of harrowing warnings dotted throughout this episode (and in others too).

Companies like Meta seem to treat “Black Mirror” as a product roadmap rather than a warning. The soul of the technology in this episode is ignored, while the patent focuses on the “monetizable simulation.” That scares me, and after all I’ve seen in my tech reporting career, it takes a lot to scare me.

More from Tom's Guide

• I made a digital twin of myself in ChatGPT — and it changed how I work every day
• 'I’m 72 and in the best shape of my life: Here’s the 5 simple isometric bodyweight exercises I prioritize to counter age-related muscle loss'
• I wear an Apple Watch every day, and this simple trick to organize apps made my life a lot easier

Meta is planning to release the brand’s first smartwatch sometime in 2026, according to an insider report. Allegedly code-named Malibu 2, the smartwatch will reportedly offer health-tracking tools like those already found on the best smartwatches, along with a built-in Meta AI assistant.

Successfully launching a Meta smartwatch would potentially put the tech giant in direct competition with other big wearable makers, including Apple, Garmin, Google, Samsung, and Oura.

Zuck’s making a smartwatch?

According to an insider report published by The Information, Project Malibu 2 is based on a previously mothballed smartwatch project. No word on what prompted Zuck and Co. to revisit it, but I’m hopeful that Meta will actually see the project to completion this time around.

Apparently, Meta first began work on a wrist-based wearable back in 2021, but pulled the plug roughly a year later due to cuts in its hardware department. Insiders say that the previously-shelved project featured an onboard camera, with three variations of the watch to choose from. Can we expect the same from Project Malibu? It’s difficult to say. However, reports of cameras coming to smartwatches are far from new.

A smartwatch to go with your smart glasses

Meta is obviously no stranger to the wearables market, with multiple AR glasses models currently on offer, including the popular Meta Ray-Ban Displays. You could even go as far as to say that Meta makes some of the best smart glasses in 2026.

Moreover, the inclusion of a smartwatch in the brand’s product portfolio has the potential to unlock loads more gesture-based functionality for the glasses, which would be a huge plus. I could even see the brand selling the two wearables together as a bundle.

Meta smartwatch outlook

One of the best reasons I can think of for Meta to jump into the smartwatch market in 2026 comes down to compatibility. Unlike the best smartwatches for Android and the best Apple Watch models, a Meta smartwatch could theoretically play nicely with both Android and iOS smartphones.

This would mean that you don’t need to go out and buy a new smartwatch just because you were curious and decided to switch from one mobile operating system to another.

Ultimately, I’m cautiously optimistic about a Meta smartwatch. As one of the lead wearables experts here at Tom's Guide, I welcome additional competition in the space, especially from a tech powerhouse with a proven track record for hardware.

On the other hand, a Meta smartwatch could end up being Zuck’s Fire Phone moment. Let’s hope that’s not the case. Stay tuned for more reporting on a potential Meta smartwatch as the leaks and peeps drop.

More from Tom's Guide

• Apple Ring — everything we know so far about Apple's rumored smart ring
• I took the Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Garmin Instinct 3 snowboarding — and there was one clear winner
• 5 Apple Watch settings to change right now to improve battery life

With Apple pulling back on its Vision Pro plans, it's now full steam ahead on its push for smart glasses, and a new report just gave us an expected timeline of when we can look forward to the long-rumored Apple AR smart glasses.

According to research firm Omdia, Apple is planning to release its upcoming Apple AR glasses in 2028, sporting OLEDoS (OLED on Silicon), otherwise known as Micro OLED display tech. You'll also find this in the Apple Vision Pro, but now in the form of glasses.

Notably, it will deliver 0.6-inch dual OLEDoS for both lenses. That's a step forward over the LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) the Meta Ray-Ban Display specs use.

Many of the best AR glasses use Micro OLED, with the upcoming Asus ROG Xreal R1 with dual OLEDoS panels boasting up to a 240Hz refresh rate, offering some stunning visuals at 1080p resolution per eye. As the report notes, the adoption of OLEDoS for smart glasses is dominating, and that's expected to increase over the next two years.

If this is the case, we'll be waiting a while before we see Apple's all-new AR glasses arrive. In fact, if the report's launch windows ring true, we'll see the next Meta AR glasses with dual OLEDoS panels and waveguide in 2027 first, along with more specs from RayNeo (also sporting 0.6-inch dual Micro OLED).

While the Cupertino tech giant's AR glasses may be a while, Apple is rumored to be launching AI glasses toward the end of 2026, though that release could slip to 2027. As reported, we can expect these to depend on Siri for AI capabilities, along with built-in speakers and cameras. Siri 2.0 is still expected to arrive in 2026, after all.

Otherwise, with OLEDoS display tech involved, we expect Apple's anticipated AR glasses to be powered by a form of VisionOS, with processing being done via an iPhone. For now, VisionOS looks to be a testing ground (of sorts) for what to expect, as we're now seeing the Vision Pro finally get a YouTube app.

The move to OLEDoS

As Omdia notes, OLEDoS display tech is thin and light, and offers less power consumption than others, including LCoS. This makes it ideal for next-gen AR glasses, and it's looking like Apple will be jumping on these panels for its own AR specs.

But so are many of the biggest players in the smart glasses space. With its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, Meta has been pulling ahead with smart specs for a while, and its introduction into the AR glasses space has already arrived in the form of the Meta Ray-Ban Display.

The report details that AR, VR and MR (mixed reality) revenue is estimated to reach $1.2 billion by the end of 2026, with a 200% year-on-year growth. Apparently, this is due to the growth of OLEDoS in AR glasses and head-mounted displays (HMDs).

We're big fans of Micro OLED on AR specs, with the Xreal 1S AR glasses delivering fantastic visuals with an upgraded 16:10 aspect ratio at a 1200p resolution, along with 3D picture conversion. Apple will have a lot to catch up with, especially with its AR specs now tipped to come in 2028. But at least it should finally enter the smart glasses race with its AI smart specs (hopefully by the end of 2026).

As a side note, Omdia also expects there to be a lightweight Meta MR headset with OLEDoS and pancake in 2026, along with a Quest Pro 2 MR headset also sporting OLEDoS and pancake lenses. These have been rumored, and with Meta indicating "leaked" headsets are still coming, it's a good sign there's more from Quest headsets to come.

While we won't be seeing Apple smart specs in the near future, the next Apple event in March is just around the corner, and we expect to hear more about the iPhone 17e, cheap MacBook and more.

More from Tom's Guide

• I've reviewed all of Meta's smart glasses, and this is the pair I'd actually buy
• Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses have a hidden teleprompter — and it turned my chores into reading time
• Apple's low-cost MacBook launch reportedly coming next month — and it's set to come in these bright colors

At the moment, Meta is in the lead when it comes to the best smart glasses. Not only does it have several models for sale, but they’re arguably the most approachable for consumers, as they all feature a respectable camera, decent battery life, and a responsive AI that lets you take full advantage of the glasses’ hardware.

But, Meta’s smart glasses aren’t cheap. The second-gen Ray-Ban Meta costs $379 to start. Meanwhile, the Meta Ray-Ban Display — the most advanced set of specs — cost $800, even before you add in tax. If you want to save some cash, Meta still sells the first-gen Ray-Ban Metas for $299, and they’re still quite good.

I’ve tested three of Meta’s newest smart glasses — the Ray-Ban Meta, the Oakley Meta Vanguard, and the Meta Ray-Ban Display — and have used all of them on a fairly regular basis. However, I keep returning to one pair over the others.

Meta Vanguard for the win

As someone who enjoys the outdoors a lot, the Meta Vanguards are my favorite pair of smart glasses. But the fact that they’re sports-forward in and of itself isn’t the main reason I like them; it’s that they’re hyper-focused on what they want to achieve, and succeed at meeting those goals.

Let’s start with the design. These sport-forward specs aren’t going to be for everyone, but they have a cool wrap-around shape, and come with removable lenses, so it’s easy to swap them out if they become damaged or you simply want a new look.

When it comes to the hardware, the Vanguards also have more powerful speakers, which Meta says can get up to 82.1dB, 6 dB louder than the Meta Ray-Bans. They also have longer battery life (up to 9 hours vs. 8 for the Ray-Bans) and their camera has a wider 122º field of view — not to mention three capture modes (Standard, Slow motion, and Hyperlapse).

But more than the hardware, Meta cleverly launched the Oakleys with a partnership with Garmin, so if you start recording a run, walk, or some other activity with your smart watch, the glasses will automatically stitch together a short video, and overlay it with your stats, such as how far you’ve run, your pace, and more. Even better, the glasses will also give you audio prompts during the activity, to let you know how you’re doing.

The videos I shot and the photos I took with the Meta Vanguards while skiing and sledding were also pretty good. While they’ll never replace a GoPro, they’re more than adequate if you want to share them on social media.

A focused experience

Try as I might, I just don’t see myself wearing smart glasses every waking hour of the day. There’s a lot they can do — but the more I wore the Meta Ray-Ban Displays, the more I became aware of their limitations.

While we’re a few generations in, smart glasses are still in their novelty phase. Companies are trying to figure out the best features to include, and we’re all still figuring out the best use cases.

That’s why I’m most enamored with the Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses. Not only do they have a clear sense of purpose, but they have a design and features tailored to make the most out of that experience.

In a few years time (or maybe sooner), I’m sure there will be reasons you’ll want to wear smart glasses 24/7. We’re just not there yet.

More from Tom's Guide

• I wore Ray-Ban Meta Display smart glasses to watch the Super Bowl halftime show — and understood Bad Bunny in real time
• Samsung just confirmed its Android XR smart glasses will launch this year — here’s how they can beat Ray-Ban Meta
• I went skiing with the Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses, and now I may ditch my GoPro for good

I love my Kindle. I love it even more when I have the time to curl up on my favorite chair with my latest read and a cup of tea. I moonlight as a book reviewer and the advanced copies I get are almost always in digital form, so they are perfect for an eReader.

But, as a mom of three I rarely have the opportunity to sit still. So when Meta rolled out its new teleprompter feature for the Ray-Ban Meta Display smart glasses, I had a thought:

What if I could “read” while doing the dishes? Or laundry? Or ...just about anything?

I already do these things with audio books, but none of the advanced copies I read are in audio form or available yet on Audible. So I jumped at the opportunity to read with my smart glasses. They came in handy when I needed to translate Bad Bunny's performance at the Super Bowl halftime show, so I was curious to see what else they could do.

How I turned smart glasses into a book reader

Before I go any further, I want to be very clear: Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses are not an e-reader. They are not meant to do this. You can’t upload a Kindle file directly. There’s no EPUB import button. No built-in book app.

But the teleprompter changes things. Here’s how it works:

• I opened the book file from my email. If you are doing this and don'thave the files, simply open the book on your Kindle app.
• Copy the biggest section of text you can and then paste it into the Teleprompter section inside the Meta AI app.
• The text will apperar in the display immediately.

That’s it. It’s simple — but surprisingly powerful and incredibly useful.

What it’s actually like to “read” in your glasses

The first thing I noticed is that this isn’t passive. It takes a little more focus than what I was expecting, but I got used to it.

Unlike audiobooks where you can sort of check out and listen, with the Teleprompter going, you're still reading the words yourself. So your eyes are moving and your brain processes the text.

But I appreciated that instead of holding a device, the text floats in a small, private display inside my lens.

This meant that I could read while loading the dishwasher, folding laundry, waiting in the pickup line (with the car in park, of course) or even stirring pasta. Using Ray-Ban Meta Display smart glasses I could read just about anywhere without staring down at a screen or balancing a Kindle or my phone.

The teleprompter breaks text into chunks or “cards,” so I advanced through it manually because along with the glasses I wear the accompanying Neural Band to swipe. It’s not as fluid as swiping a Kindle page, but it’s functional and strangely impressive.

What this is NOT

Before anyone ditches their Kindle, this is not for deep or immersive reading sessions. The display is small. The field of view is limited and you're advancing and adding text manually.

This means, if I want to sink into a novel for two hours, I’m still reaching for my Kindle. But for “found reading time," it's kind of brilliant.

The biggest surprise here was how convenient the experience is and the easy setup. Normally, I don’t read during chores because it feels impractical. My hands are wet. My phone might get splashed. I’ll lose my page or have to squint the whole time because the book is too far away. With the Ray-Ban Meta Display smart glasses, the barrier disappears. I just glance up slightly and keep moving.

Final thoughts

If you're like me and are always looking for ways to unlock invisible minutes in your day, this is a fun and easy hack. It's probably not the future of reading, but it's a great way to get in a few extra pages.

Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses weren’t designed to replace e-readers. They’re built for notifications, directions, messaging and short bursts of information.

But the teleprompter quietly turns them into a wearable micro-reader. As a busy person trying to squeeze in a few extra pages between soccer practice and bedtime though, I'm here for it.

More from Tom's Guide

• I asked ChatGPT to reveal my 'Shadow Persona' — the result was uncomfortably accurate
• The first brands advertising in ChatGPT reveal exactly who OpenAI thinks you are — and it’s surprisingly specific
• Samsung Galaxy S26: The AI upgrades we know about and the ones we want the most

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for Meta’s VR efforts over at Reality Labs. After losing just over $6 billion last quarter, the company laid off 1,500 people. While Palmer Luckey said abandoning VR was “obviously false,” Meta’s own actions screamed the opposite.

But there’s been some recent green shoots of optimism. Horizon OS got updated with a virtual keyboard that actually works, and a new lightweight headset with a compute puck has been leaked.

But what about Meta Quest 4? And after shutting down three VR game studios and canceling some projects, will there be anything to play on them?

Well, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth has been pretty vocal over the past few days, including an “ask me anything” session on his Instagram page to provide “the truth” and respond to the “doom and gloom.” And in his Davos interview, he seems to confirm that Quest 4 is still coming.

Put simply, Meta Quest is not dead. It’s evolving.

Meta is 'investing more in content than anyone else'

This first response came to a question about the “doom and gloom” of the layoffs. Bosworth says it's “mostly overwrought,” but he gets why it exists.

“First, there is a real cause for sadness. We had people doing work we were excited about, whether at the OS layer or great studios delivering great titles,” he commented. But he emphasized that Meta “remains extremely bullish on VR.”

“We are still investing more in content than anyone else, and more than we were four years ago,” Bosworth stated. “While we have receded from the 'high water mark,' we are still very much a net positive investor in the ecosystem.”

He acknowledged the “sadness regarding cancelled projects,” such as the Batman Arkham sequel, but the investment has been adjusted to “match the size of the growth.”

Quest 4 confirmed?

But that’s when he let the cat out of the bag. “Furthermore, these internal changes unblock roadmaps for us on hardware; the next two devices we are looking at are very exciting,” Bosworth added.

Wait, what two devices is he talking about!? Let’s go back to his interview with Alex Heath for more clarity. There were two devices leaked in a memo back in December — “Pismo High” and “Pismo Low.” Quickly, reports linked these to a Meta Quest 4 and Quest 4S.

And when talking to Heath, he seems to very strongly hint that these are still in the works. “I think it's officially leaked we've got two devices on the roadmap that we're super excited about coming out over the course of a period of time,” Bosworth responded.

Heath rightly pressed him on what “a period of time” meant, and Bosworth dodged the question pretty effectively by saying “it could be anything, could be tomorrow.”

No, this doesn’t mean Quest 4 is launching tomorrow. But it is a welcome sign of relief that Meta’s still cooking on its next-gen gaming headset.

What about the Steam Frame?

Another interesting question came up — namely, does Meta view the Steam Frame as competition, or does the company support this additional standalone headset?

“It is a little bit of both. I have said this before — and I will say it again, because it is really true — every time there is a new headset, we learn from it,” Bosworth responded. “We learn how consumers respond to the decisions made regarding architecture, resolution, and cameras.”

One key example he brings up here is the Steam Frame coming included with a wireless dongle for cable-free PC VR. Meta has “experimented” with wireless links like this, but in Bosworth’s own words, “we decided it was just too much hassle.”

But that doesn’t mean the company won’t revisit this idea: “If consumers love it, maybe there is a bigger market there than we realized.”

Analysis: VR’s not dead — it’s the platform that will give birth to true AR

As someone who lives a good chunk of his life in VR like it’s “Ready Player One,” it’s a relief to see Meta come out of the gates swinging. But the transition to AR and smart glasses is definitely happening.

Not only has Meta seen it, but we’ve seen it in our affiliate revenue numbers, too (the money we make when you click on recommended products from our website and buy them). And this has changed my perspective on trying exciting VR headsets and software features.

Namely, I believe all the VR goodness we’re seeing today is an exciting test bed for what we could see in next-gen smart glasses. This idea of “spatial computing” is continuing to evolve before our eyes, and glasses aren’t able to contain all the silicon/battery tech needed to nail it yet.

And that puts VR in an exciting position to be the platform that pulls back the curtain on what the specs of the future will be able to do. By the way, Andrew (if you’re reading this, hi), I’d love to talk to you further about this!

More from Tom's Guide

• I built a 152-inch gaming screen in bed and my fiancée has no idea — these AR glasses are $140 off
• 'A moment similar to when smartphones arrived': Mark Zuckerberg reveals where Meta's money is going in 2026 — and it’s not VR
• 2 years later, the Apple Vision Pro finally gets an official YouTube app

I’ve never been a passionate sports fan, but I love live music. In other words, I watch the Super Bowl for the halftime show. The energy, the talent and the excitement on such a big stage is fun to see regardless of the artist, in my opinion.

When I found out Bad Bunny was performing this year, I decided to run a small experiment. Instead of reaching for my phone when Bad Bunny started rapping in Spanish, I kept my hands in my lap — and my eyes on the stage. That’s because I was wearing Ray-Ban Meta Display smart glasses.

My question going in was simple: Could Meta keep up and translate the performance in real-time? Here’s what happened.

What I wanted to test

I wasn’t expecting to demo tech while watching the Super Bowl. But there I was literally seeing if these glasses could help me in a very normal, human way:

• Could they help me understand lyrics in real time?
• Could they provide context without forcing me onto my phone?
• Could they keep me in the moment instead of dragging me out of it?

What Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses actually are

Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses are the company’s most advanced consumer AR-style smart glasses to date — and the first from a major brand to include an in-lens display.

Unlike regular “smart glasses,” which are mostly cameras and speakers, these can actually show visual information directly in your field of view via a tiny screen visible only to you.

Here’s the quick, clean rundown:

• In-lens display: A full-color 600 × 600 pixel overlay that appears in your right lens
• Meta AI: You can ask for translations, context, directions or messages hands-free
• Neural Band: A wristband that lets you control the glasses with subtle muscle gestures
• Built-in camera: You can take photos or videos and see a viewfinder in your glasses
• Phone connectivity: Works with iOS and Android over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
• Battery: About 6 hours of use, plus a charging case
• Price: Around $799 (more for Rx lenses)

Importantly, the display does not block your vision. It feels more like a subtle heads-up overlay that appears only when you need it — similar to a floating notification in your peripheral view. That said, you should not drive a vehicle while wearing them.

The halftime moment: when Bad Bunny came on

When Bad Bunny hit the stage, I did what I normally do: I watched, listened and tried to keep up.

Then, I quietly switched to the translations with my wrist and forefinger and I said: “Hey Meta, what is he saying right now?”

Within seconds, text appeared in my lens. It wasn’t full karaoke subtitles streaming line by line all the time. Sometimes it only caught a few words or left some out (I know a little bit of Spanish and Bad Bunny’s lyrics well enough to notice).

But overall, I got concise, real-time translations of key phrases and themes — enough to understand the meaning without staring at words instead of the performance.I could still see the dancers. I could still feel the energy of the crowd. I could still watch the choreography and lighting.

For the first time, I didn’t feel “behind” in a multilingual performance. It was so cool.

What worked surprisingly well

• I didn't need my phone. This was the biggest win. Normally, I’d be pulled into a mini black hole of scrolling. Instead, I stayed focused on the show.
• The translations were fast enough to feel live. There was a slight delay, but not enough to break the experience. It felt like having a very quick translator sitting next to me.
• It deepened my appreciation of the performance. Understanding the lyrics gave me a better emotional connection to what Bad Bunny was doing on stage.

What didn’t work perfectly

No tech is magic — and these glasses are no exception. If I wasn’t facing the TV directly or the camera moved to dancers and not Bad Bunny, I would lose the lines of translations.
And, when that happened, it took a minute to get translations back on again. So, I probably missed a quarter of the lyrics in real time.

Gesture control is cool, but it’s not completely intuitive right away. I mostly relied on voice instead. I’ve been playing around with the wristband and hand motions and it’s still taking me a little while to get used to everything.

The takeaway

For the first time, AI didn’t pull me out of the experience — it pulled me deeper into it. I didn’t leave halftime thinking, “Wow, the glasses are amazing.” I left thinking, “Wow — I actually understood Bad Bunny.” It made the halftime show even more impressive and interesting to me.

More from Tom's Guide

• I stopped over-prompting AI — here are 3 routines that saved me 10 hours a week
• I tried Google Labs’ ‘Food Mood’ — and it actually found recipes I wanted to make
• I thought ChatGPT Voice was just text read aloud — a side-by-side test proved me wrong