Oakley Meta AI Glasses Launches As OpenAI Says Its First Jony Ive AI Device Isn’t A Wearable

Just over a week ago, Meta teased its new partnership with Oakley without saying what the two companies would be working on. Although it was pretty obvious that the two would develop smart glasses, considering Meta’s previous partnership with Ray-Ban for the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

At the time, no concrete details were shared, except that the new product or service was slated for a June 20 release—which it did get.

Through a news release published on its website, which also included a video, Meta and Oakley introduced the world to the Oakley Meta Glasses, which are described as a “New Category of Performance AI Glasses.”

The new smart glasses combine Oakley’s signature design DNA with Meta’s industry-leading technology to offer deeper insights into a user’s physical capabilities.

“The line will launch in a new global campaign starring Team Oakley athletes: World Cup winner Kylian Mbappé and three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes,” reads the news release.

The first hint that the Oakley Meta smart glasses would be developed keeping performance in mind was that the teaser was shared by top athletes, which came with the addition of J. R. Smith (basketball—former), Gabriel Medina (surfing), and more.

The first product to launch from the line will be the Oakley Meta HSTN (pronounced HOW-stuhn), a pair that’s based on the HSTN style of Oakley glasses.


It sports a higher resolution built-in camera that supports Ultra HD (3K) video and hands-free use, as well as open-ear speakers integrated into the frames. It comes with a stronger battery that can withstand eight hours of typical use and up to 19 hours on standby, which can be charged up to 50% in just 20 minutes, and a charging case that can deliver up to 48 hours of charging on the go.

The glasses come with Meta’s personal AI assistant—Meta AI.

According to the release, the Limited-Edition Oakley Meta HSTN will be available for preorder starting July 11 for $499, while the rest of the collection will start at $399 and will drop later this summer.

Initially, they will be available in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. The companies are also working to bring them to Mexico, India, and the United Arab Emirates later this year.

Meta spoke about the “next evolution of AI glasses” that will debut at marquee sporting events, starting with Fanatics Fest June 20-22, followed by UFC International Fight Week, June 25-27, with more to come this year.


Meta isn’t the only AI company to enter the smart wearable technology sector.

Recently, OpenAI announced a partnership with Jony Ive for a product “io,” which came with the $6.5 billion acquisition of io Products in an all-equity deal. Previously, OpenAI held a 23% stake in io.

However, the initiative was short-lived as it faced a lawsuit by iyO, a Google-backed hardware startup also engaged in developing wearable devices.

This resulted in the dedicated blog post page that once held a video talking about the merger to sport a notice that read, “This page is temporarily down due to a court order following a trademark complaint from iyO about our use of the name “io.” We don’t agree with the complaint and are reviewing our options.”

While the legal battles may remain underway for a while, the products being developed by the two companies may continue bubbling in the background.

However, through legal filings, there is some information that we can gather about the new products.

While not finalized, the products are “not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device.”

Citing the video, the filings confirm that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s references to a prototype in the video “is at least a year away from being offered for sale.” Furthermore, io “does not advertise any specific product because io currently has no products for sale” and “it has no plans to do so for at least a year.”

“We decided on this name because it is a common phrase for “input/output,” and our intent with this collaboration was, and is, to create products that go beyond traditional products and interfaces,” Altman said in a declaration to the court.

“We want to create new ways for people to input their requests and new ways for them to receive helpful outputs, powered by AI. As part of our decision to use the “io” name, we acquired the io.com domain name in August 2023.”

Do you think OpenAI’s AI device, once launched, can present a challenge to renowned AI device developers such as Meta and Google? Do you think Meta’s partnerships with Ray-Ban and Oakley can spur more such tie-ups?

What do you think about the Oakley Meta smart glasses?

Let us know in the comments below!