Google’s New AI Glasses Send Shockwaves Through Meta and Ray-Ban Maker in Early Trading

Silicon Valley just dropped another wearable bombshell—and this one's got Wall Street scrambling.

The Glasses That See Everything

Google's latest play isn't just another gadget. It's a direct assault on the smart eyewear space Meta and EssilorLuxottica thought they owned. Forget clunky prototypes; these specs promise seamless AI integration that makes current offerings look like last season's fashion.

Market Tremors Before Lunch

Trading floors lit up within minutes of the announcement. Meta's stock took an immediate hit—investors clearly questioning whether their metaverse bets can compete with augmented reality you actually want to wear. Over at EssilorLuxottica, analysts started recalculating whether Ray-Ban's brand cachet matters when Google's algorithms are doing the heavy lifting.

The Privacy Elephant in the Room

No surprise here: the data collection implications are staggering. Google gets your search history, your location, your emails—and now what your eyeballs are literally looking at. Regulators haven't even caffeinated yet, but you can bet the oversight hearings are already being scheduled.

Why This Hurts More Than a Typical Launch

Timing is everything. Meta's been pouring billions into reality labs with questionable returns. EssilorLuxottica just expanded its smart glasses line. Then Google waltzes in with superior tech, existing ecosystem integration, and—let's be honest—better design chops. It's not competition; it's a flanking maneuver.

One cynical finance jab? Watch the hedge funds that were long on Meta's 'hardware pivot' narrative suddenly discover the virtues of 'diversification' as they quietly rebalance portfolios toward Alphabet.

The real question isn't whether these glasses will sell. It's whether they'll make every other wearable look obsolete before most companies finish their morning stand-ups. Early trading suggests the market's already decided.

Google builds glasses with big hardware partners

Google is not developing the hardware alone. The company is working with Samsung, Gentle Monster, and Warby Parker after locking in a $150 million deal with Warby Parker in May. The glasses will run on Android XR, Google’s operating system for headsets and mixed-reality devices. In a Monday filing, Warby Parker said its first glasses built with Google will hit the market in 2026, which matches Google’s own timeline.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin said in May that he learned from the company’s first attempt at smart glasses, which failed because early AI systems weren’t strong and supply chains limited what they could build.

Brin said, “Now, in the AI world, the things these glasses can do to help you out without constantly distracting you — that capability is much higher.”

Google’s return places a second large tech company in the same lane at a time when crypto-heavy investors are already on edge about how AI hardware shifts might collide with markets tied to risk sentiment.

Meta pushes for new AI model while investors watch spending

Meta’s own AI roadmap has moved away from public branding and toward internal hiring. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said last year that the Llama AI models WOULD be the “most advanced in the industry” and “bring the benefits of AI to everyone.”

In January, he opened Meta’s earnings call, talking about Llama for several minutes. In Meta’s October call, he mentioned Llama once.

People close to the company said Meta is building a new frontier model named Avocado, seen as the next major step beyond Llama. Many inside Meta expected Avocado to arrive before the end of 2025, but the new target is the first quarter of 2026.

The shift is tied to training tests meant to make sure performance is stable when the model goes live. A Meta spokesperson said, “Our model training efforts are going according to plan and have had no meaningful timing changes.”

Meta has spent heavily to stay competitive. In June, the company paid $14.3 billion to hire Alexandr Wang, the founder of Scale AI, along with key engineers and researchers. Meta also bought a large stake in Scale at the same time.

Four months later, Meta lifted its 2025 capital spending forecast to $70 billion to $72 billion, up from $66 billion to $72 billion, as it continued to chase AI capabilities that could match or exceed what competitors like Google and OpenAI are rolling out.

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