OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has no plans to compete with Meta in the smart glasses market. The company's head admitted that he is uncomfortable using devices with cameras on his face, and also spoke about the concept of new AI gadgets being developed in collaboration with former Apple top designer Jony Ive.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has no plans to compete with Meta in the smart glasses market. The company's head admitted that he is uncomfortable using devices with cameras on his face, and also spoke about the concept of new AI gadgets being developed in collaboration with former Apple top designer Jony Ive.
Altman spoke about this in a conversation with technology journalist Alex Heath on the Sources Podcast, Business Insider reports . According to the OpenAI head, he fundamentally avoids wearing smart glasses due to discomfort during personal communication.
"I'm very uncomfortable talking to people when there's a camera and lights nearby," he noted.
Thus, Sam Altman confirmed his skepticism about such gadgets. Last year, when reporters asked him at the Allen & Company Sun Valley conference whether the sunglasses he was wearing were “smart,” he immediately put an end to the question. “Absolutely not,” he said. “I don’t like ‘smart’ glasses.”
Despite this, OpenAI is actively working on its own line of AI hardware devices with Jony Ive. According to Altman, the team is considering several form factors for everyday use, but the development process takes time.
"I think there's something that should be on the table, there's something that should be in your pocket, and there's something that should be on your body. It's going to take us some time to release all of these things," the head of OpenAI emphasized.
OpenAI’s move away from the glasses shape leaves the lead in this segment to Meta, which produces devices in partnership with Ray-Ban. According to EssilorLuxottica, more than 7 million pairs of such glasses were sold last year, and the Reality Labs division’s revenue in Q2 2026 reached $431 million ($61 million more than a year earlier).
However, Meta continues to face privacy issues — institutions are banning the wearing of glasses due to concerns about hidden filming, and Instagram is forced to increase content moderation.
Previously, search engine DuckDuckGo, in partnership with the brand Knockaround, released a limited edition of polarized sunglasses called Normal F***ing Sunglasses . The new product was created as a satirical response to Meta's artificial intelligence smart glasses, which caused heated debate due to threats to the privacy of passers-by.
