Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote at this yr’s Join wasn’t precisely clean—particularly if you happen to rely two huge hiccups that sidetracked reside demos for each the most recent Ray-Ban Meta good glasses and the brand new Meta Ray-Ban Show glasses.
Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) good glasses basically convey the identical advantages as Oakley Meta HSTN, which launched again in July: longer battery life and higher video seize.
One of many largest options although is its entry to Meta’s massive language mannequin (LLM), Meta AI, which pops up once you say “Hey Meta”, letting you ask questions on something, from the climate to what the glasses digicam can really see.
As a part of the on-stage demo of its Reside AI function, which runs repeatedly as an alternative of sporadically, meals influencer Jack Mancuso tried to create a Korean-inspired steak sauce utilizing the AI as a information.
And it didn’t go nicely, as Mancuso struggled to get the Reside AI again on observe after lacking a key step within the sauce’s preparation. You possibly can see the total cringe-inducing glory for your self, timestamped beneath:
And the explanation behind it’s… nicely, simply dumb. Jake Steineman, Developer Advocate at Meta’s Actuality Labs, defined what occurred in an X submit:
So right here’s the story behind why yesterdays reside #metaconnect demo failed – when the chef stated “Hey Meta begin Reside AI” it activated everybody’s Meta AI within the room without delay and successfully DDOS’d our servers 🤣
That’s what we get for doing it reside!
— Jake Steinerman 🔜 Meta Join (@jasteinerman) September 19, 2025
Unlucky, sure. But additionally fairly foreseeable, particularly contemplating the AI ‘wake phrase’ gaffe has been a factor for the reason that existence of Google Nest (ex-House) and Amazon Alexa.
Anybody with a kind of pleasant tabletop pucks has most likely skilled what occurs when a TV advert consists of “Hey Google” or “Hey Alexa,” unwittingly commanding each machine in earshot to inform them the climate, and even order objects on-line.
What’s extra stunning although: there have been sufficient folks utilizing a Meta product in earshot to screw with its servers. Meta AI isn’t like Google Gemini or Apple’s Siri—it doesn’t have OS-level entry to smartphones. The one units with default are the corporate’s Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta glasses (and Quest if you happen to opt-in), conjuring the picture of a room stuffed with confused, bespectacled Meta workers ready out of shot.
As for the Meta Ray-Ban Show glasses, which the corporate is launching within the US for $799 on September thirtieth, the hiccup was far more forgivable. Zuckerberg was making an attempt to take a reside video name from firm CTO Andrew Bosworth, who after a number of missed makes an attempt, got here on stage to do an advert hoc simulation of what it might need been like.
These kinds of reside product occasions are notoriously unhealthy for each Wi-Fi and cell connections, merely due to how many individuals are within the room, usually with a number of units per-person. Nonetheless, Zuckerberg didn’t pull a Steve Jobs, the place the previous Apple CEO demanded everybody in attendance at iPhone 4’s June 2010 unveiling flip off their Wi-Fi after an on-stage connection flub.
You possibly can catch the Meta Ray-Ban Show demo beneath (compulsory cringe warning):
