Google is set to challenge Meta's AI glasses with two new models featuring cameras and speakers, due to launch in the second half of 2026, the tech giant announced at its annual Google I/O developer conference on Tuesday.
The glasses were designed in cooperation with Samsung and eyewear companies Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.
A built-in camera feeds information to Google's AI, Gemini. Users can ask the software questions about what they are currently looking at and Gemini can, for example, pull up reviews of a restaurant the wearer is standing in front of, or explain an unusual cloud formation.
The glasses can also read out messages or give navigation directions.
Meta, the company behind Facebook, has been trying to establish this type of glasses as a product category for several years. Through a partnership with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica, they are sold under the Ray-Ban and Oakley brands. According to EssilorLuxottica, more than 7 million Meta glasses were sold last year.
Google could have an advantage in the market, given that the company's AI can draw on information from its search engine — and that it also has a wide range of services under one roof, from digital maps to email.
A year ago, Google showed prototypes of an AI headset at the I/O conference that featured a small display capable of showing visual information such as translations or route directions.
At this year's I/O, no specific details were given about when such devices would reach the market. According to the financial news service Bloomberg, the company is aiming for a launch next year.
Apple is also reported to have been testing similar glasses for years — but may also initially release models without a display.
