Meta is advancing its strategy to dominate the market for AI-powered smart glasses while facing significant internal criticism and public distrust. The company reports that smart glasses sales doubled in the second quarter of 2026, driven by strong performance for its Ray-Ban Meta devices. Despite these commercial gains, employees and analysts describe the company's artificial intelligence division as disorganized and its leadership approach as reactive to privacy concerns.
The push into hardware marks a pivot from the metaverse, a virtual reality concept that has resulted in over $80 billion in operating losses for Meta's Reality Labs division. While the company shut down Horizon Worlds for VR headsets, it has found success in augmented reality. EssilorLuxottica, Meta's partner, sold 7 million additional units by the end of 2025. IDC reports that Meta holds 69.2 percent of the smart glasses and headset market as of the second quarter of 2026.
Mark Zuckerberg has positioned these devices as essential for future interaction with AI. In a 2025 earnings call, he stated that individuals without AI-integrated glasses would face a "significant cognitive disadvantage." This vision underpins the release of Muse, a personal AI agent launched in early September. Apptopia estimates Muse has over 600,000 daily active users in the US, placing it at the top of the iOS App Store charts. However, analysts note that profitability in this sector is unlikely for at least five years, with some predicting a wait of up to 25 years.
Public perception of the hardware has been complicated by misuse. Users have employed the devices to harass women and retail workers, earning them the label "pervert glasses." Activists have launched guerrilla campaigns in major cities to highlight privacy risks. In response, Meta has implemented updates to make it harder to disable recording lights and pledged to remove prank videos from Instagram. Critics argue these measures are reactive and fail to address deeper privacy issues associated with the company's data collection practices.
Behind the scenes, the AI strategy is under strain. A longtime Meta employee told The Verge that the AI division is a "shitshow," citing scattered initiatives and low morale. The company invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI in June 2025 and hired its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead AI efforts. Yet, internal reports indicate clashes between long-term research teams and executives focused on short-term revenue features. Wired described Meta's most prestigious AI team as a "total mess" with an ever-changing strategy.
Zuckerberg recently published a manifesto outlining a vision for superintelligence to improve health and business creation. Noah Smith, a senior director at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, characterized the document as PR that lacked new insights. Internal employees have criticized the manifesto for prioritizing grand visions over practical product development. As competitors like Google and Apple enter the market with their own eyewear plans, Meta faces pressure to prove that its early investment in hardware can sustain a lead in an industry where profit remains elusive.