Meta unveils smarter AI glasses and a personal assistant called Muse

• Meta has launched camera-free AI smart glasses starting at $349 to address growing privacy concerns.

• The company also unveiled Muse, an AI assistant that can complete real-world tasks for users.

• New Ray-Ban Meta glasses and lighter Meta VR Glasses are also on the way.

• The launch comes as Meta continues to face global scrutiny over privacy and child safety issues.

Meta is taking a different approach to smart glasses after months of criticism over privacy and secret recordings.

At its annual Connect conference in Menlo Park, California, the tech giant unveiled a new lineup of AI-powered wearables, including an audio-only version of its smart glasses that comes without a camera.

The move comes as concerns continue to grow globally over people secretly filming others, especially women and girls, using wearable devices with hidden cameras.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes AI glasses are about to become mainstream.

“There are almost 2 billion people in the world who wear glasses today… and we think that in the coming years, most of these are going to get upgraded to AI glasses,” Zuckerberg said while addressing developers and company executives.

READ ALSO: He was declared wanted, arrested in Niger and jailed for money laundering — now EFCC wants Abdulrasheed Maina again

The new audio-only smart glasses will begin shipping on October 13 with a starting price of $349.

Unlike Meta's existing smart glasses, these new models cannot take photos or record videos. Instead, users can listen to music, make calls, access AI features and interact with Meta's digital assistant without the privacy concerns that come with built-in cameras.

The company is, however, not abandoning camera-equipped glasses.

Meta also introduced several new versions of its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that still include cameras for photos and videos. Those remain part of the company's long-term vision for wearable AI.

Meta insists privacy has been part of the design process from the beginning.

According to Meta's Vice President of AI Product, Vishal Shah, the company has continued improving visible recording indicators on its camera-enabled glasses.

“We wanted people to clearly understand that this was something that was recording, and we’ve only made that light more explicit over time,” Shah said.

He added: “We said a lot about that when the glasses first launched, and I think we probably need to keep repeating that more than we have been more recently because none of that’s changed.”

The launch comes as wearable cameras have increasingly attracted criticism, with some critics even referring to them as "pervert glasses" because they can be used to secretly record people.

Beyond the glasses, Meta also introduced Muse, its new AI assistant designed to perform tasks for users.

Rather than simply answering questions, Muse works as an AI agent capable of completing actions on behalf of users. After linking accounts such as banking, shopping and health services, users can ask Muse to book appointments, make phone calls, register for services and complete other everyday tasks.

Zuckerberg described the assistant as central to Meta's future.

“Muse will be ‘the centerpiece of our vision,’” he said.

Meta says Muse has already climbed to the top of both the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store, overtaking ChatGPT, Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude in the free app rankings.

The company also teased another device called the Muse Charm, a small puck-shaped gadget with a display that allows users to interact with the AI assistant without using a smartphone. It is expected to launch before the holiday season, although pricing has not yet been announced.

Meta also announced fresh styles of its flagship Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, while its display-enabled version, starting at $799, will soon become available in countries including the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada.

The company also revealed a lighter mixed reality headset called Meta VR Glasses, which is connected by a cable to an external battery and memory pack, reducing the weight users have to wear on their heads.

According to Zuckerberg, the headset weighs about as much as a deck of playing cards and relies on hand gestures and voice commands instead of physical controls.

The Meta VR Glasses are expected to launch in spring 2027 with a starting price of $1,299.

READ ALSO: Gambia orders Access Bank, GTBank and other banks to replace non-Gambian staff with locals by December

The announcement comes as Meta continues facing regulatory pressure over privacy and child safety.

In August, the company agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by several US states over alleged violations of consumer protection and children's online privacy laws. The settlement could cost Meta up to $18 billion and includes additional restrictions aimed at protecting teenage users.

Meta also continues to face age-related restrictions in several countries, alongside thousands of potential personal injury lawsuits in the United States.