Snap to launch smart glasses for users in 2026 in challenge to Meta
HighlightsSnap Inc. will launch its first-ever smart glasses for consumers, called Specs, next year, intensifying competition with Meta Platforms, Inc. in the wearable technology market. Snap Inc. has invested over $3 billion in developing augmented reality glasses over the past 11 years, highlighting its commitment to integrating technology into wearable products. Snap Inc. plans to collaborate with Niantic, Inc. to enhance the Lens Studio application, which enables creators to design and publish augmented reality lenses for Snapchat.
Snap will launch its first-ever smart glasses for all consumers next year, ratcheting up competition with bigger rival Meta in the
wearable technology market
.
The augmented reality smart glasses, called Specs, will be lightweight, the social media company said on Tuesday.
Long known for its messaging app Snapchat and animated filters, Snap has been doubling down on AR, which can overlay digital effects onto photos or videos of real-life surroundings through a camera or lens.
Integrating technology into wearable products can open up new lucrative markets and diversify revenue streams for Snap amid an uncertain digital ad market due to changing U.S. trade policies.
The company had launched its 5th generation of Spectacles glasses in September, but these were only available to developers.
The company has invested more than $3 billion over 11 years developing its
augmented reality glasses
, Snap co-founder and CEO
Evan Spiegel
said at the Augmented World Expo 2025 on Tuesday.
"Before Snapchat had chat, we were building glasses."
The popularity of Meta's Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses developed in partnership with EssilorLuxottica have prompted companies such Google to explore similar investments.
Meta continues to add AI features to its glasses to attract more consumers.
Snap said it would partner with augmented reality and geospatial technology platform Niantic Spatial to enhance the Lens Studio, which is an application used by creators to design, animate and publish AR lenses for Snapchat camera, and Specs.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
24 minutes ago
- News18
You Can Now Use Meta AI To Edit Videos And It Is Free: All Details
Last Updated: Meta AI can generate images and make food recipes but now it is getting AI video editing feature that works via prompts. Meta AI is growing in terms of what features it can support and the latest addition brings first-ever video editing option for the users. Like any other AI tool you just have to give a prompt and the tech will do the work. The new feature is rolling out on the Meta AI which the company had introduced with a focus on getting unique users to try out its features that are also available on WhatsApp these days. Meta AI is offering the new tool for select regions as of today but gradually we expect more users to avail its benefits. GenAI Video Editing On Meta AI Meta says the video editing tool is available on the Meta AI website and the Edits app that was recently introduced. The company has developed a preset of AI prompts for video editing that can be used to change the outfit, location or even the lighting before you think of sharing them on Instagram or Facebook. The main aim for Meta is to allow people to use their own text prompts to edit the videos which enhances the ability of the AI model, and that will be rolling out later this year. Here's How The AI Video Editing Tool Works The AI editing tool is limited to 10 seconds for free, and only the users in the US can try out the video feature added to the app and the website this week. Meta AI is also a big presence on WhatsApp these days, where the AI chatbot is being tested to forward images that can be analysed. You can ask Meta AI anything about the image, its context and even read out the text in it. First Published: June 12, 2025, 15:41 IST
Time of India
36 minutes ago
- Time of India
Meta's $14.8 billion Scale AI deal latest test of AI partnerships
Facebook owner Meta's $14.8 billion investment in Scale AI and hiring of the data-labeling startup's CEO will test how the Trump administration views so-called acquihire deals , which some have criticized as an attempt to evade regulatory scrutiny. The deal, announced on Thursday, was Meta's second-largest investment to date. It gives the owner of Facebook a 49% nonvoting stake in Scale AI, which uses gig workers to manually label data and includes among its customers Meta competitors Microsoft and ChatGPT creator OpenAI. Unlike an acquisition or a transaction that would give Meta a controlling stake, the deal does not require a review by US antitrust regulators. However, they could probe the deal if they believe it was structured to avoid those requirements or harm competition. The deal appeared to be structured to avoid potential pitfalls, such as cutting off competitors' access to Scale's services or giving Meta an inside view into rivals' operations - though Reuters exclusively reported on Friday that Alphabet's Google has decided to sever ties with Scale in light of Meta's stake, and other customers are looking at taking a step back. In a statement, a Scale AI spokesperson said its business, which spans work with major companies and governments, remains strong, as it is committed to protecting customer data. The company declined to comment on specifics with Google. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Elegant New Scooters For Seniors In 2024: The Prices May Surprise You Mobility Scooter | Search Ads Learn More Undo Alexandr Wang, Scale's 28-year-old CEO who is coming to Meta as part of the deal, will remain on Scale's board but will have appropriate restrictions placed around his access to information, two sources familiar with the move confirmed. Large tech companies likely perceive the regulatory environment for AI partnerships as easier to navigate under President Donald Trump than under former President Joe Biden, said William Kovacic, director of the competition law center at George Washington University. Trump's antitrust enforcers have said they do not want to regulate how AI develops, but have also displayed a suspicion of large tech platforms, he added. Live Events "That would lead me to think they will keep looking carefully at what the firms do. It does not necessarily dictate that they will intervene in a way that would discourage the relationships," Kovacic said. Federal Trade Commission probes into past "aquihire" deals appear to be at a standstill. Under the Biden administration, the FTC opened inquiries into Amazon's deal to hire top executives and researchers from AI startup Adept, and Microsoft's $650 million deal with Inflection AI. The latter allowed Microsoft to use Inflection's models and hire most of the startup's staff, including its co-founders. Amazon's deal closed without further action from the regulator, a source familiar with the matter confirmed. And, more than a year after its initial inquiry, the FTC has so far taken no enforcement action against Microsoft over Inflection, though a larger probe over practices at the software giant is ongoing. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories A spokesperson for the FTC declined to comment on Friday. David Olson, a professor who teaches antitrust law at Boston College Law School, said it was smart of Meta to take a minority nonvoting stake. "I think that does give them a lot of protection if someone comes after them," he said, adding that it was still possible that the FTC would want to review the agreement. The Meta deal has its skeptics. US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts who is probing AI partnerships involving Microsoft and Google, said Meta's investment should be scrutinized. "Meta can call this deal whatever it wants - but if it violates federal law because it unlawfully squashes competition or makes it easier for Meta to illegally dominate, antitrust enforcers should investigate and block it," she said in a statement on Friday. While Meta faces its own monopoly lawsuit by the FTC, it remains to be seen whether the agency will have any questions about its Scale investment. The US Department of Justice's antitrust division, led by former JD Vance adviser Gail Slater, recently started looking into whether Google's partnership with chatbot creator was designed to evade antitrust review, Bloomberg News reported. The DOJ is separately seeking to make Google give it advance notice of new AI investments as part of a proposal to curb the company's dominance in online search.
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
Big Tech's acqui-hire strategy heats up as demand for AI talent soars
Live Events Meta's $15 billion investment in Scale AI for a 49% stake is the latest in a series of transactions that large technology companies have made to acquire talent as they seek to get ahead in the AI acquihiring is not just a trend, but a strategic necessity for these companies and is likely to see more traction, as the demand for AI talents will continue to increase, say the last two years, large technology players have been acquiring AI startups for their technology teams. Microsoft paid $650 million in a licensing deal to Inflection AI, whose cofounder Mustafa Suleyman is now heading Microsoft AI. In a similar licensing deal, Amazon hired AI startup Adept cofounder David Luan and others who joined Amazon's AGI the home front in India, well-funded AI startups Krutrim and Sarvam acquired semiconductor startup Bodhi Computing and legal platform Samta Law, respectively, to enter new are a couple of reasons for this. 'We're at an inflection point where foundational AI talent is in such short supply and high demand that companies are willing to buy entire teams to accelerate their AI roadmap,' said Sachin Arora, partner and leader – data & analytics, agents and cloud at PwC Meta for instance. Following the $15 billion investment, Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang will report to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and will lead the social media giant's new AI lab focused on pointed out that unlike in the software-as-a-service sector, where acquihires were often about engineering execution, in AI, it's about vision, research and IP. "You're acquiring not just builders but boundary-pushers, people who define what's next,' he a few years ago, when acquisitions were a norm, regulatory scrutiny has increased in recent times. EY India technology consulting partner Hari Balaji said established tech giants are seeing escalating regulatory scrutiny prompting them to grow through reverse acquihires without triggering anti-trust addition to this, acquihires are also an avenue for companies to enter highly competitive sectors and acquire new customers.A lot of this is stemming from a small pool of talent that is currently available in AI.A Bengaluru-based investor earlier told ET on the condition of anonymity that beyond accelerating the AI journey, increasing the market share and acquiring new capabilities are the other reasons for M&As and acquihires. 'In our portfolio, some of the startups are evaluating companies that bring key AI capabilities for one of the three reasons mentioned,' he had these are early days in India. 'What we are seeing are small deals or acquihires and not large deals that would attract large enterprises yet, which are a huge value add,' Kae Capital general partner Gaurav Chaturvedi earlier told ET. 'Those are beginning to happen in the US. These will take time to pan out in India.'
