OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Expresses Discomfort with Smart Eyewear

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has made clear his discomfort with smart eyewear, a product category dominated by Meta. According to a report by Business Insider, speaking on the Sources Podcast, Altman said, “I find it very uncomfortable talking to people with a camera and a light”. Altman’s dislike isn’t new. At last year’s Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, when asked if his sunglasses were smart glasses, he quickly replied: “Absolutely not. I don’t like smart glasses.” The comments land squarely on Meta's turf. Meta, which also develops its own competing frontier AI models, has become one of the biggest players in the smart glasses category through its partnership with Ray-Ban. EssilorLuxottica, the company that owns Ray-Ban, said it sold more than 7 million pairs of AI-enabled glasses last year alone — a sign of just how mainstream the category has become, even as Altman positions himself as skeptical of the format entirely. In July, Meta reported that Reality Labs, which includes consumer hardware sales, generated $431 million in Q2 2026 revenue, up $61 million year-over-year. The company has said higher AI-glasses sales are offsetting slower demand for its Quest headsets.

Still a Big Business for Meta

Despite the friction, smart glasses remain a significant business line for Meta. The company doesn't break out glasses-specific revenue in its earnings reports, but it has repeatedly said that rising AI-glasses sales are helping offset softer sales of its Quest VR headsets. In July, Meta reported that Reality Labs — the division covering its consumer hardware, including both glasses and Quest devices — generated $431 million in revenue during the second quarter of 2026, up $61 million from the same period a year earlier.

OpenAI’s hardware vision

While Altman distances himself from smart glasses, he hinted at OpenAI’s own hardware ambitions. Working with famed iPhone designer Jony Ive, OpenAI is developing AI-enabled devices. Altman suggested a three-part vision: “I think there’s something that belongs on a table, there’s something that belongs in your pocket, and there’s something that belongs on your body, and it’ll take us some time to launch all of those things. ”