Big Tech gets fitted for wearable AI

The Future. Big Tech sees wearable, AI-powered tech as a way to drive constant engagement… and now, every company is trying to win the race to create the go-to device. Whichever firm comes out on top could have the iPhone of the AI era — a ubiquitous device that becomes synonymous with the market itself.

Face screens
Every firm in Silicon Valley is working on a wearable that uses multimodal AI — systems that  “understand drawings, charts, objects, and hand gestures in addition to text and audio,” per The Information.

• OpenAI has reportedly struck a deal with Snap to bring an object-recognition system to products, while CEO Sam Altman is developing a device with Jony Ive.
• Microsoft is introducing an OpenAI-powered chatbot to its HoloLens AR goggles and has filed patents that imagine multimodal AI in small, lightweight devices.
• Google has focused its AI capabilities on the Pixel phone but is also developing software that can be licensed to hardware manufacturers.
• Meta is already testing AI capabilities in its smart glasses made in collaboration with Ray-Ban.
• Apple will have strong computer vision software in its upcoming Vision Pro and was recently developing a lightweight pair of AI-powered smart glasses (that’s been paused).
• Amazon has been working under the radar on several devices, including a pair of smart glasses called “Echo Frames” that uses AI.

But there’s one company that doesn’t believe people want AI on their face: Humane, which thinks having a device pinned to your clothes that can project images onto your hands is a more natural way to use the tech.