"The Gods Battle"! Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US) joins hands with Samsung and Warby Parker to enter the AI audio glasses market. It is expected to be officially released this fall.

Google unveiled its first audio smart glasses on Tuesday, seeking a breakthrough in the wearable device market that has been stirred up by competitor Meta. At Google's annual I/O developer conference, the company announced partnerships with Samsung, as well as glasses manufacturers Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, to create smart glasses with integrated Gemini assistant. Google stated that the product will be compatible with both Android and iOS devices and will officially launch later this year. In 2013, Google entered the smart glasses race with Google Glass, but high pricing of $1500 and bulky design ultimately led the product to become one of the failures in tech history. Thirteen years later, Google learned from its painful lessons and established a multi-layer hardware and design alliance. In terms of design, Google collaborated with South Korean avant-garde brand Gentle Monster and North American direct-to-consumer glasses brand Warby Parker to design two frame styles - "bold avant-garde" and "minimal classic". The aim is to make the smart glasses look like normal glasses first - addressing directly the biggest aesthetic flaw of Google Glass back then. "These are the first two designs of a larger series of products set to launch this fall," said Shahram Izadi, Head of Android XR Products and Platforms, during the keynote speech at the conference. According to him, the glasses are designed to "privately read information to the user's ear, rather than displaying it on a screen". In terms of hardware, Google has introduced Samsung's hardware engineering capabilities and Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform solution to ensure production and quality control with the latter's strong expertise in consumer electronics manufacturing and chip technology. The product is powered by the Android XR operating system, deeply integrated with the Gemini 2.5 Pro model, offering features such as photography, voice navigation, real-time translation, and summarization of text messages. Meanwhile, Google has also launched a developer ecosystem plan for the display version of smart glasses, with the full version featuring a built-in micro-LED display screen expected to be available to consumers in 2027. This phased roadmap of "audio leading, display following" is aimed at testing the market waters with a lower threshold. In contrast to Meta's strategy, Google's emphasis this time is on screen-free audio, highlighting "privately reading information to the ear rather than displaying it on a screen", and attempting to overtake on the bend through a three-pronged approach of fashion design, manufacturing capabilities, and AI platform. During Tuesday's event, Google also announced a series of advancements in AI, including new AI models and AI agents. This appearance indicates that in the context of uncertainty in the future of wearable devices and investors eagerly awaiting new hardware forms in the AI era, Google is still willing to make cautious bets on new devices. Google had released smart display glasses last year and announced in December last year that it was developing pure audio glasses for its Android XR platform. For Google, user data is the true source of value - which can be used to continuously improve AI models. However, the company did not provide details on the privacy terms related to the upcoming glasses. AI Glasses Hunt by Giants Data shows that the global wearable AI market is projected to grow from $52.65 billion in 2025 to $69.03 billion in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 31.1%; the global user base is expected to soar from 15 million last year to 289 million in 2040, with a market value reaching $200 billion. In the field of AI glasses, the smart glasses launched in cooperation with EssilorLuxottica by Meta have achieved initial success, becoming a highlight in the backdrop of Meta Reality Labs department burning billions of dollars every quarter. The Ray-Ban and Oakley series glasses equipped with Meta AI assistant achieved sales of 7 million pairs in 2025. In September last year, Meta released its own display glasses, allowing users to view messages, photo previews, real-time subtitles, and other information through a small display screen embedded in the lenses. According to recent reports from foreign media, Apple has shifted its focus from Vision Pro to lightweight smart glasses, with core researchers from the original Vision Pro team transferred to this project. The first product is expected to be unveiled by the end of 2026, but official shipment may be delayed until 2027. It is reported that the first-generation model may not have a built-in display screen and will rely on iPhone integration. Snap officially established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Specs, at the beginning of 2026 to operate its smart glasses business independently and signed a multi-year partnership agreement with Qualcomm in April to strengthen its chip capabilities. Snap plans to launch consumer-grade smart glasses within 2026 and has begun global talent recruitment. Alibaba also showcased the TONGYI AI glasses for the first time at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, supporting voice interaction and real-time translation, with plans to launch it to the international market in 2026. The investment layout of AI chip leader NVIDIA is also worth watching. During the demonstration at the conference on Tuesday, Google product manager Nishtha Bhatia showcased how to use these audio sunglasses to activate Gemini, connect with DoorDash, and place a coffee order. She also had Gemini read unread text message summaries and add events to the calendar. Google stated in its official blog that the glasses can provide navigation with step-by-step voice guidance, and users can ask Gemini about everything they see in front of them. Additionally, the glasses support photography and can use Google's AI image generator Nano Banana to achieve image conversion through prompts like "Hey Google, take a photo and put funny hats on everyone".