Tech companies are betting on smart glasses, AI pins and other wearable devices as potential successors to smartphones, but growing privacy concerns could slow their adoption. Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have faced particular scrutiny over the possibility of people being recorded without their knowledge, with some UK venues restricting their use.

Companies are exploring different approaches to address these concerns. Samsung plans to enter the smart-glasses market through partnerships with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, while some startups are developing camera-free glasses and devices that require users to deliberately activate recording. Businesses are also showing interest in AI wearables for workplace applications.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has argued that future always-on AI devices should process more information locally rather than continuously sending data to cloud servers. Experts say the challenge is balancing usefulness with privacy, since AI devices become more capable as they collect more information about users and their surroundings.

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