Meta Plans Private AI Processing for Ray-Ban Smart Glasses to Address Privacy Concerns

Meta says it can keep AI private Meta plans to bring its Private Processing technology to Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, allowing the glasses’ AI assistant to recognize users and handle requests without giving Meta access to their data.

What Is Private Processing?

Announced at Meta Connect in Menlo Park, California, Private Processing is a privacy-focused AI system designed to process sensitive requests in the cloud while preventing Meta and other external parties from accessing the data.

The technology was designed for WhatsApp last year and is intended to make AI features available without compromising the platform’s end-to-end encrypted messaging capabilities. Meta says the system helped make private AI interactions on WhatsApp possible.

For smart glasses, Private Processing could eventually support private conversations, transcriptions, and messages with Meta’s AI assistant. However, Meta has not yet announced which specific features will be available.

Meta Wants AI Glasses to Feel More Personal—and Less Creepy

In a press release, Meta executive Mehta described AI glasses as devices that can provide “superpowers,” including translating conversations and summarizing notes and discussions. The company says it is exploring how to build a personalized AI assistant that understands a user’s world while protecting privacy.

WIRED spoke with Pritam Shah, Meta’s director of engineering, during Meta Connect about bringing Private Processing to the company’s smart glasses.

“What we’re doing now is sharing our excitement about this enhanced privacy platform,” Shah said. “We have a platform ready. We’re making it work. This is more than just a white paper or a blog.”

Shah said Meta is announcing the platform before adding more experiences so it can work with security researchers, privacy experts, and third-party auditors.

Privacy Concerns Surround Meta’s Smart Glasses

The announcement comes as Meta faces continued criticism over its handling of user privacy. This year, the company has faced controversy involving facial recognition and concerns that smart glasses could be misused by sexual predators.

Some critics have called the devices “pervert glasses” and opposed people wearing them. Others have developed apps such as ZuckOff, which are designed to detect nearby Meta smart glasses.

More broadly, Meta has faced years of security and privacy controversies that have weakened user trust. The company’s products have often appeared better at monitoring users than protecting them. At Meta Connect, however, the company worked to position its smart glasses as a more privacy-conscious and less intrusive technology.

Private Processing Is Not Yet Available on Meta’s Glasses

Meta also highlighted privacy features in Muse, an AI agent released earlier this month. Muse uses a cloud environment called Secure VM, and Meta is working on a version called Confidential VM with stronger privacy guarantees, including a similar promise that Meta itself will not be able to access user data. Muse will also be available on Meta’s glasses.

Private Processing is not yet available on Meta’s smart glasses. Shah did not provide a timeline for its release or specify which features will use the technology.

“These are just examples,” Shah said. “These are not specific features, but they are some examples. More powerful examples will come.”