Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses Expansion: Meta AI Coming to Seven New Countries

Updated: May 06 2025 18:13

AI Summary: Meta has significantly expanded its wearable AI presence by launching its Meta AI assistant on Ray-Ban smart glasses in seven additional European countries, following delays due to EU privacy regulations. Alongside this, Meta introduced a new standalone Meta AI app, powered by Llama 4, designed for personalized, conversational interactions with features like full-duplex voice, real-time translation, visual recognition, and a social "Discover" feed, all integrated across Meta's platforms and devices like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and the smart glasses.

In a significant expansion of its wearable AI technology, Meta Platforms has announced that its AI assistant, Meta AI, is now available on Ray-Ban smart glasses in seven additional European countries. Users in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland can now interact with Meta AI through voice prompts on their smart glasses, getting answers to questions hands-free while on the go.

This European expansion marks an important milestone for Meta, coming after several regulatory hurdles related to the European Union's stringent privacy and transparency rules. While Meta AI was launched in the U.S. back in 2023, its European rollout faced delays due to data protection concerns - a testament to the complex regulatory landscape tech companies must navigate when deploying AI technologies internationally.



Alongside this geographical expansion, Meta has also unveiled its standalone Meta AI app built with its Llama 4 model. This app represents Meta's first step toward creating a more personalized AI assistant experience that can remember user preferences and maintain context across conversations. The new app is designed to:

• Get to know users personally, providing more relevant and helpful answers
• Offer a seamless voice interaction experience
• Connect users with content and people they care about
• Integrate with Meta's other products like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger

Perhaps most significantly, the Meta AI app now serves as the companion app for Ray-Ban Meta glasses, merging with the previous Meta View app. This integration creates a continuous AI experience across devices, allowing users to start a conversation on their glasses and pick up where they left off on their phone or computer.



A standout feature of the new Meta AI app is its experimental full-duplex speech technology, which delivers a more conversational AI experience. Unlike traditional voice assistants that wait for you to finish speaking before responding, this technology enables Meta AI to generate voice responses directly rather than simply reading written text aloud.


The voice conversations feature, including the full-duplex demo, is initially available in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. When using the glasses, a visible icon indicates when the microphone is active, addressing privacy concerns about always-listening technology.


The European expansion comes with several powerful AI features:

1. Live translation capability, allowing users to communicate across language barriers
2. Visual recognition features that let users ask about objects they're looking at
3. Web search integration for answering questions and providing recommendations

The live translation feature, which was previously available in Early Access in select countries, is now rolling out broadly across all Meta's markets. This feature supports translations between English, French, Italian, and Spanish, even when offline if language packs are downloaded in advance.

Starting next week, users in supported EU countries will gain access to the visual recognition capabilities, allowing them to ask Meta AI about objects in their field of view and receive real-time responses - a feature that was recently made available in the UK.


Meta is leveraging its expertise in social platforms to make AI more engaging and shareable. The Meta AI app includes a "Discover" feed where users can explore how others are using AI, see popular prompts, and even "remix" those prompts to create their own variations.


This social dimension differentiates Meta's approach from other AI assistants, creating an ecosystem where AI interactions can be shared and collaborative rather than purely individual experiences. As with Meta's other platforms, users maintain control over what gets shared to their feed.


A key advantage of Meta's ecosystem is its presence across multiple platforms and devices. The company has designed Meta AI to be accessible across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Ray-Ban Meta glasses, and now the standalone Meta AI app and web interface.


This cross-platform integration enables users to start interactions on one device and continue them on another. For example:

• Begin a conversation on Ray-Ban glasses and continue it in the Meta AI app
• Access conversation history across devices
• Chat between the app and the web bidirectionally

The web version of Meta AI has also been enhanced with voice interactions and the Discover feed, plus an improved image generation experience optimized for desktop use.



Meta's significant investment in AI infrastructure and the integration of AI capabilities into its wearable technology represents a strategic push to attract new users in the competitive AI landscape. By enhancing Ray-Ban Meta glasses with AI capabilities, Meta is positioning itself at the intersection of wearable technology and artificial intelligence.

According to Meta, "Glasses have emerged as the most exciting new hardware category of the AI era, and Ray-Ban Meta glasses have led the way in defining what's possible." This statement reflects Meta's ambition to lead in both AI development and hardware innovation.


Beyond the European expansion, Meta has announced plans to launch Ray-Ban Meta glasses in Mexico, India, and the United Arab Emirates soon, further extending the reach of its AI-powered wearables.

This global expansion strategy highlights Meta's commitment to making AI accessible across diverse markets and cultural contexts, potentially reaching billions of users through their existing social platforms and new hardware offerings.



Meta emphasizes user control throughout its AI offerings. The Meta AI app allows users to toggle features on and off, including whether voice is activated by default. The company also states that nothing is shared to a user's feed unless they choose to post it.

For the personalized experience, Meta AI draws on information users have already chosen to share on Meta products, like profiles and content engagement. Users who have connected their Facebook and Instagram accounts through the same Accounts Center can receive even more personalized responses.


Meta's European expansion of AI capabilities on Ray-Ban smart glasses represents a significant step in the company's journey to create more personal, conversational, and ubiquitous AI experiences. By integrating AI assistants with wearable technology and extending availability across multiple countries, Meta is working toward a future where AI assistance is always available, increasingly personalized, and seamlessly integrated into our daily lives.