Mark Zuckerberg believes smart glasses are on track to become as common as smartphones, arguing that a world without them will soon feel unrealistic. Speaking during Meta’s Q4 2025 earnings call, the Meta CEO said the shift toward AI-powered eyewear mirrors the transition from flip phones to smartphones, driven by the fact that billions of people already wear glasses or contact lenses.
Zuckerberg said Meta has refocused its Reality Labs strategy away from the metaverse and toward AI wearables and in-house AI models. He claimed sales of Meta’s smart glasses have tripled over the past year, calling them among the fastest-growing consumer electronics products to date. In his view, adding AI to something people already wear daily makes widespread adoption almost inevitable.
His confidence comes with some skepticism. Zuckerberg has previously made bold predictions, most notably around the metaverse becoming a dominant social and work environment, a vision that failed to materialize. Still, industry momentum suggests AI glasses may have more staying power than past experiments.
Several major tech companies are now moving in the same direction. Google is expected to release smart glasses this year following a major partnership with Warby Parker. Apple is reportedly shifting internal resources toward its own smart glasses project, while Snap has spun off its AR glasses unit into a separate subsidiary to sharpen its focus. Even OpenAI is exploring wearable AI devices, though not necessarily glasses.
For now, Meta appears to be ahead of the curve, already selling multiple smart glasses models, including versions designed for sports and fitness. While it remains unclear whether AI glasses will truly reach smartphone-level ubiquity, the scale of investment from the tech industry suggests they are likely to play a significant role in the next phase of consumer technology.
