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AI glasses are already here, and we're not ready. Sales have jumped 139%, and Meta is now looking at upping capacity as high as 30 million. And privacy experts are panicking. It turns out, these things are recording bathroom visits, bank cards, and much more. A new way for more intrusive data collection and more ways to show you ads. But, that's not even the worst part. The newest way to watch you is here. And what's making all of this worse, is AI.
Who's actually watching behind the glasses? And how does this affect you, even if you'd never buy a pair? But wait, smart glasses already exist, and they've been around for ages. So why is this a problem now? In the past we had Google Glass, which was a major flop, and Snap Spectacles, which had AR. These typically did one or two of three things. They gave you a heads-up display, had hand tracking, and let you take photos and videos, hands-free. These have been around for ages. Even if they weren't great.
AR glasses aren't anything new. So, what's changed? These are the Meta Ray-bans, with their partnership with the world's biggest eyewear maker. They have a heads-up display, an integrated AI assistant, and they're the biggest AI glasses, by far. They capture audio and video, then either process parts of that on-device or hand work off to a paired phone or the cloud.
Some have a tiny in-lens display, and an AI which can see what you see. And to be honest, some of these features sound cool! A heads-up display, listening to music without in-ears, hands-free calling, and real-time captions. Which, are great for those with impaired hearing. Zuckerberg wants these to compete with smartphones. This is their new big bet, after the failure of the Metaverse. AI glasses start at $299, while the newer display-equipped version starts at $799.
Except, there's a huge difference. Unlike VR, or the old Google Glass or Snap Spectacles, people are actually buying them. By Feb 2025, Ray-Ban Meta had sold 2 million pairs since launch. In Feb 2026, the manufacturer said AI glasses sales, including Meta's, has passed 7 million units sold. The target was 10 million pairs, but, that's already ahead of schedule. These things are taking off.
But, this is just the beginning. Meta is looking at doubling capacity to 20 to 30 million due to demand. They've even paused their international rollout due to a supply shortage. Smart glasses grew 139% in the latter half of 2025. And most of that is AI glasses. This isn't a tech demo. AI glasses are here now. And, these have a lot of people worried. You can do much more than type or listen to music without people noticing. You might already have a bad feeling about this.
A heads-up display and a camera are basically a dream package for ad providers. And, these are owned by Meta and Google. Companies whose entire business models are built on advertising. People are already worried about ads popping up on those displays. Imagine looking at some products in a store, and then Meta later deciding to push ads of that product to you, on your glasses.
We already know Google was caught listening to people and then tailoring ad recommendations. But it's not just the heads-up display; it's the camera. What happens when these things are recording… even when they're not supposed to be? You don't have to imagine. It's why Meta is currently fighting multiple battles over privacy. Doesn't the state of privacy today… just kind of annoy you? It feels like everything is recording you now. Meta basically just moved their tracking from the screen to real life. But it's not just them. Multiple social media are now pushing for
everyone to upload government IDs and even facial scans. Despite many data breaches. And I think this has quietly brought about what I call "privacy nihilism". The data breaches, the targeted ads, the AI glasses, the feeling that everything you do is being watched, make privacy feel impossible. "What's the point?". But it doesn't have to be this way. By just being a bit harder to track, most of the work is already done. Privacy can actually be quite easy, especially with Proton VPN. If you don't know Proton, they make the best privacy-focused products. Proton VPN masks your IP address and connection
to stop websites like Meta, or even your ISP from tracking you, knowing what you're up to, and monetizing that for ad targeting. Not only does this protect your privacy, but it means you can access regionally blocked content like streaming services and news articles. Proton VPN also has a stealth function which disguises your VPN connection, which is especially important, given a lot of platforms are now detecting regular VPNs. Proton are based in Switzerland, which has strong privacy laws, and one of their directors is Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web. Proton have nothing to hide, which is why their VPN is fully open source.
Proton VPN has over 13,000 servers in over 120 countries, and supports all major devices, even AppleTV or FireTV. Click the link below to protect your privacy and try Proton VPN today. Thank you to Proton for sponsoring our video. Meta glasses process a lot of information, and AI systems need to be trained to translate correctly, produce the right captions, and identify objects. A lot of this is "machine learning," but… not all of it. Information and recordings from these glasses are sent away from Meta to Nairobi, Kenya.
They contracted a company called "Sama," which has thousands of staff monitoring computer screens. They are "data annotators." They draw boxes around objects seen by an AI and describe what it is. And these people see everything. In 2026, Swedish newspapers SvD and GP investigated Sama and secretly interview 30 employees, who tell them what they see at work. These AI glasses have been recording everything: Bathroom visits, people changing, bank cards. And to be clear, these staff don't enjoy this and say it "feels uncomfortable to go to work."
But under Sama, they signed strict confidentiality agreements, and many live in slums. "We see everything. Meta has that type of content in its databases. People can record themselves in the wrong way and not even know what they are recording. They are real people like you and me." It's not just video, either. Data annotators also work with transcriptions and listen to personal conversations recorded by Meta glasses. "It can be about any topics at all."
Meta has gone from tracking your activity to literally recording you. And, users never really find out what the glasses are actually recording. "The user is given no choice; it is mandatory to participate" The media quickly began to report this. Then, regulators in Europe began asking Meta questions. Meta said, "This data is first filtered to protect people's privacy," which could include blurred faces. But the investigation found that quite often, this failed and people's faces were seen. Then, came a lawsuit, but Meta isn't just under heat in Europe.
They're currently being sued by Clarkson Law Firm for false advertising. "The Meta AI smart glasses are advertised using promises like "designed for privacy, controlled by you," and "built for your privacy," which might not lead customers to assume their glasses' footage, including intimate moments, was being watched by overseas workers. Yet, it somehow gets worse. You might be thinking, "Sucks for them, but I won't be buying these."
Sure, but… the risks for privacy and anonymity are not just for the owners of these glasses, but for everyone. There is a new war on privacy, and Meta just handed bad actors their newest, greatest weapon. Instead of knowing if someone's recording you with their phone, now anyone wearing glasses could be. There is an LED that glows when recording is on, but people are just taping over it. Meta did add a layer to prevent this, but you can just bypass it.
You can buy specific stickers designed to conceal it. Just to be clear: don't do this. People are already falling victim to it. You might think, "Okay, people get recorded all the time." Technically speaking, you are allowed to record people in public. And, hidden cameras already exist, even in glasses. You can even buy them on Amazon, of course, not that you SHOULD buy them. But these glasses come with a very specific problem.
The combination of a smart device, a concealed camera, and AI is a very dangerous product. The students explain that, "This synergy between LLMs and reverse face search allows for fully automatic and comprehensive data extraction that was previously not possible with traditional methods alone." This… is pretty scary. I think now, more than ever, is the time to practice "privacy hygiene." As more recording becomes available, protecting yourself better, being smarter about what online products you use, and who you give your information to.
The students behind the Harvard demo published a guide on protecting yourself from reverse face search, among other things, which I've linked below. Because, these glasses aren't going away. Google is also getting back into the game, with the new Android XR vision. Following in Meta's footsteps, they're also working with Warby Parker. Apple appears to be doing the same, so is Amazon. Some glasses like Qualcomm even have a Snapdragon chip and can process everything inside the glasses, without cloud or smartphone.
Is there anything we can do? The battle is ongoing. Regulators are still figuring out what to do about these glasses. Italy and Ireland asked Meta to clarify how it complied with local privacy laws, and Ireland's Data Protection Commission also questioned "whether a tiny LED indicator was enough to alert people they were being filmed." In response, Meta made it a bit larger and made it blink. But it's not just the recording. Meta is now looking at adding its own facial recognition to these glasses. A privacy rights nonprofit is urging the FTC to block this, calling it a "grave risk to privacy, safety, and civil liberties."
Glasses just move it from your screen into the physical world. I think these glasses are doing something even deeper than just collecting data. In the late 18th century, philosopher Jeremy Bentham proposed an idea: A prison where inmates are always in view of a guard tower. Inmates don't know when they're watched, but the fact that they could be at any moment would change how they behave. This concept is called The Panopticon. It wasn't a real building, but it's a very influential philosophy which shows that people behave differently when they think they're being watched.
Even if they aren't. And I think this is what's happening more and more. More people are recording us, even if we can't see them. Constant surveillance changes how we act. We have studies that show this is real. One study found that non-owners were more worried about privacy breaches and social disruption, while wearers focus more on self-image and social acceptability. Even if you technically can record in most public places, it doesn't mean people want to be filmed everywhere. People are now calling businesses to ban the use of Meta Ray-bans.
One developer made "nearby glasses", which gives you a notification when it detects smart glasses nearby. I'm sure we'll see more of this in the future. I think we might need it. It looks like Meta has finally figured out a wearable with real demand, unlike the whole metaverse situation. Check out this video to see what happened there.
