Meta bets big on wearable AI, new AI agent as Zuckerberg pushes back
against AI doom
[September 24, 2026] By
KAITLYN HUAMANI and BARBARA ORTUTAY
Meta is going all in on a consumer-friendly AI agent and pushing forward
with AI-powered wearable devices during a moment in the industry when
its CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged it is a “wild time to be building.”
At the company's annual Connect conference on Wednesday, Zuckerberg
opened his keynote address by saying “it’s no secret that people in the
industry have a wide range of views about how the future is going to
go.” But at Meta, he said, “we are optimists because we believe in
people.”
Zuckerberg has distanced himself and Meta from recent calls by rival
companies for a coordinated slowdown in the development of advanced
artificial intelligence, arguing that individual labs can and should
ensure their technology is safe.
“We believe that the best way to create a positive future for everyone
is to put power in people’s hands," he said at the conference. "We
believe that empowering people is the source of prosperity in the world,
that the highest purpose of superintelligence is creation and invention
— not automation — and that the path to a safe future is to distribute
this technology widely and create the right checks and balances, rather
than concentrating it in the hands of just a few.”
Zuckerberg has long said he believes wearable AI will eventually replace
smartphones as the primary way people interact with technology. At the
conference, the company unveiled a slew of updates to its smart glasses
and virtual reality goggles, which let people control their interface
using their voice, eyes and hand and finger movements.
AI agent Muse is the ‘centerpiece’ of Meta's vision
Zuckerberg said that Meta's recently launched agent Muse is the
“centerpiece" of Meta's hopeful outlook for the future of AI.
Having an AI agent, which goes beyond chatbots in that it can act and
perform tasks on a person’s behalf, has been a “sign of someone who is
completely AI-pilled,” Meta's chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said at the
conference. With Muse, Wang said, Meta is making agents more accessible
and bringing “personal superintelligence” to everyone.
With the help of a mascot for the agent that looks like a plush toy,
Wang and senior leadership at Meta demonstrated different uses for the
Muse in everyday life. Users will be able to have real-time voice
conversations and video chats with their version of the agent, which can
also be customized to look and sound unique. The agent can help users
plan travel, book reservations, order groceries and complete other
helpful tasks. Meta has partnered with companies like OpenTable, Spotify,
Ticketmaster and more to help its agents complete these tasks.
The company is working to bring Muse to its AI glasses lineup for
hands-free access.
Zuckerberg also said Meta is planning to release a keychain-like device
that has the “whole Muse experience” packed into it, called Muse Charm,
in time for the holidays in December. The palm-sized device will allow
users to engage with a personal AI agent without using a phone, computer
or smart glasses.
New AI audio glasses and new updates to popular models
Meta is launching an audio version of its more widely known smart
glasses. The new product will let users listen to music, make calls and
talk with an AI assistant — there’s just no screen, and no video
recording, which has raised privacy concerns with some users recording
people without permission. Called Ray-Ban Meta Audio, it will be
available in October and the cost starts at $349.
Meta is also building upon a previous feature that allowed glasses
wearers to better hear a conversation in a noisy environment. Now,
Zuckerberg said, a feature called hearing enhancement turns your glasses
into an “FDA-cleared, over-the-counter hearing aid” that can “compensate
for perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.” The feature will launch in
the U.S. later this year and will be available to add to supported AI
glasses for $150, or with a Meta One subscription.
[to top of second column] |
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the Meta Connect conference,
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff
Chiu)
 The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses
have been upgraded with new features, including improved cycling and
transit navigation and a personalized hologram for video calls.
The company is also offering more styles to appeal to a broader
range of people and says it will have more than 100 different
options across its Ray-Ban, Oakley, and Meta Glasses by the end of
the year. The glasses will also be available in more countries,
including Turkey, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
The newest generation of the classic Ray-Ban Meta glasses is also
now available, with what the company touts as a slimmer, sleeker
design and increased battery life, among other upgrades. The
Generation 3 models are available now with prices starting at $449.
Virtual reality gets a makeover with Meta VR Glasses
The most drastic update announced at the conference is to the
company's VR device, now called Meta VR Glasses. That is because the
previous bulky headset has been replaced by a set of glasses, which
weigh about 100 grams (3.5 ounces), or roughly as much as a deck of
cards. In comparison, the Meta Quest 3, which launched in 2023,
weighs about five times that much. The difference feels similar to
that between scuba diving and swimming goggles.
While they are significantly lighter and more sleek than VR
predecessors, the glasses require a wired connection to an external
puck for battery, storage and compute.
Instead of controllers or a neural wristband that past headsets or
glasses required, the VR glasses use an eye-tracking camera and
sensor that essentially lets your eyes be the computer cursor and
your fingers the mouse clicker. If you want to open an app, for
instance, you look at it and use hand and finger gestures, or use
voice commands to talk to the Meta AI agent.
In a demo at its Menlo Park, California, headquarters on Tuesday,
Meta showed off entertainment and work offerings on the glasses,
including sports events and concerts that replicate the experience
of having courtside or front-row seats. A new feature called “VR
Enhanced Cinema,” meanwhile, seeks to immerse viewers in the movie
by transforming their surroundings beyond the screen into a virtual
world inspired by the movie, with dynamic effects, 3D visuals and
spatial audio.
Once the glasses launch, users will have access to more than 100
immersive live sports events from that courtside-like view, because
of partnerships with ESPN, MLB, NBC Sports, TNT Sports and UFC. The
glasses can also function as a gaming console, Meta said, and there
will be more than 75 games at launch that users can play solely with
hand gestures.
The glasses can also be used for work. Users can conjure a virtual
keyboard on any flat surface and use the display as their computer
screen (or several screens) only they can see. For even more of a
robust setup, users will be able to connect their Mac or Windows PC
to seamlessly transition onto these screens, and bring their own
keyboard and mouse. The VR glasses, unlike headsets of the past,
will let wearers see their desk setup and surroundings while they
work.
One of Zuckerberg's live demos of the night also showed off the
glasses' ability to use hologram technology to project a
photorealistic digital version of a person, including their
real-time expressions and reactions, for hands-free video calling.
The VR glasses will launch in the spring of 2027 and cost $1,300.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
