OpenAI · Meta · Calif · SpaceX · Fortune Technology
How Meta took the lead in the race for the post-smartphone world
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There are moments when you experience emerging tech for the first time, and it feels genuinely different.
Key facts
- Meta’s Ray-Ban Display glasses start at $799, while its third-generation flagship camera-enabled Ray-Bans cost $449
- But Meta stands above all in AI-enabled glasses, having grown its sales of smart glasses threefold last year; EssilorLuxottica says it sold 7 million pairs of AI-enabled glasses in 2025
- AI startup Even Realities, which ditches audio or camera functions and focuses on text-only displays, began selling its smart glasses in 2024
- On Wednesday, it announced virtual reality glasses that it said weigh only 100 grams and are built for movies, gaming, and spatial computing
Summary
This, as Meta sees it, is how most of them will eventually use AI. Few companies have managed to crack the code for AI-enabled wearables—and specifically glasses—as Meta has. It’s a relatively small market, but one the tech industry is taking seriously. Leading AI labs such as OpenAI and, reportedly, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, are hard at work developing new devices. At a time when the race to build the best frontier models is center stage, the competition to establish the next hardware platform is shaping up to be as important.