Meta is reportedly bringing facial recognition features to its smart glasses according to an internal memo.
According to the New York Times, an internal memo circulated by the company said that the political instability in the US would distract critics from the feature’s release.
The company reportedly could introduce the feature as early as 2026, a feature which internally is believed to be called ‘name tag’. This feature will allegedly allow smart glasses wears to identify people and get information about them via Meta’s artificial intelligence assistant.
The New York times reported that Meta’s Reality Labs memo said that it will launch its facial recognition feature “during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns”.
Meta originally considered adding facial recognition tech to its first version of Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2021 but abandoned the move over technical challenges and ethical concerns. The company’s push towards facial recognition technology coincides with moves by the Trump administration which has aligned closely with big tech companies.
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