Mark Zuckerberg faces multiple demo failures while launching Meta AI glasses: 'Never know what’s going to happen'

At its annual developers conference, "Meta Connect", Mark Zuckerberg announced a range of devices in partnership with Ray-Ban and Oakley.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday unveiled a new range of smart glasses powered by the company's artificial intelligence technology. But the unveiling didn't go as smoothly as Zuckerberg had hoped.

Zuckerberg hailed the technology as a “huge scientific breakthrough”. (X/@nearcyan)

At its annual developers conference, "Meta Connect", Zuckerberg announced a range of devices in partnership with Ray-Ban and Oakley. The company also introduced a neural wristband that pairs with its Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses to allow users to carry out tasks like sending messages with small hand gestures. Zuckerberg hailed the technology as a “huge scientific breakthrough”.

Meta AI glasses demo goes wrong

However, the spotlight quickly shifted to a couple of live demo hiccups.

First, in one of the live demos, Chef Jack Mancuso tried using the second-gen Ray-Ban Meta glasses’ AI assistant to follow a recipe. However, the AI provided incorrect instructions multiple times and repeatedly suggested steps that had already been completed.

Mancuso blamed the hiccup on a WiFi glitch, while Zuckerberg joked, “The irony of the whole thing is you spend years making technology and then the WiFi on the day catches you."

A second glitch came during a demo of the glasses’ video calling feature. Zuckerberg attempted a live WhatsApp call with Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, but his Neural Band interface failed to register the call. After multiple failed attempts, Bosworth joined him on stage, joking, “This WiFi is brutal.” Zuckerberg added, “You practice these things like 100 times, and then, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Zuckerberg later played a pre-recorded video showing the glasses being used to design a surfboard and order parts. He said this is how the glasses would work with agentic AI, brushing aside concerns about whether agentic AI actually works in live demos or not.

Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses

The Meta Ray-Ban Display comes with a full-colour high-resolution screen in one lens where users can conduct video calls and see messages. It features a 12-megapixel camera. The Display will be available this month and will sell for $799, as per a report by the BBC.

During the event, Zuckerberg also unveiled $499 Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses and the second generation of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, priced at $379.