Spring techno-fashion: Meta rolls out AI features for Ray-Ban smart glasses in Europe

Meta is expanding its AI assistant capabilities on its Ray-Ban smart glasses across Europe, signaling the tech giant’s continued push to integrate artificial intelligence into wearable technology. This expansion represents a significant milestone after Meta’s initial European AI rollout faced delays due to the region’s strict privacy regulations, highlighting the challenges tech companies face when deploying AI technology in different regulatory environments.

The big picture: Meta is bringing its AI assistant to Ray-Ban smart glasses in seven additional European countries after navigating EU regulatory hurdles.

• Users in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland can now interact with Meta AI through voice prompts on their smart glasses.
• The expansion follows Meta’s delayed European AI launch in March 2025, which was originally scheduled for June 2024 but postponed due to regulatory concerns about data protection and privacy.

Key features: The expanded rollout includes enhanced AI capabilities designed to make the smart glasses more versatile.

• Live translation functionality is being broadly deployed across Meta’s markets, allowing for real-time language translation.
• A new feature enabling users to ask Meta AI about objects they’re looking at will launch in supported EU countries next week.

Behind the numbers: Meta’s investment in AI-enhanced wearables aligns with the company’s broader AI infrastructure strategy.

• The company is spending billions of dollars to strengthen its AI infrastructure as it competes in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence market.
• Adding AI capabilities to wearable technology could help Meta attract new users in a market segment that bridges the gap between smartphones and emerging extended reality platforms.

Historical context: Meta has been steadily enhancing its smart glasses capabilities over the past year.

• The company updated Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses with AI video capability and real-time language translation in December 2024.
• These features were first announced at Meta’s annual Connect conference in September 2024, signaling the company’s commitment to evolving its wearable product line.