Lorde called AI glasses 'not sexy' mid-show at a festival sponsored by Ray-Ban, which sells Meta's smart glasses. The singer's fashion credibility gives the critique weight as Meta pushes wearables into the mainstream.
Lorde has a message for the tech industry's wearable-AI push: not sexy.
During a Thursday performance at Madrid's Mad Cool Festival, the singer-songwriter stopped between songs to deliver a blunt verdict on the high-tech eyewear. "Can I just say, for the record, fuck the glasses," she said. "Don't get the glasses. Not sexy."
Lorde did not name Meta, Ray-Ban, or a specific pair of AI-enabled glasses. Representatives for the singer did not immediately respond to questions about her comments.
The setting gave the remarks a lot of subtext. Ray-Ban sponsored the festival and promoted its smart glasses there. Blackpink singer Jennie, a Ray-Ban Meta ambassador who has appeared in ads for the devices, performed on the same stage after Lorde.
The comments arrive as Silicon Valley races to move generative AI beyond computers, smartphones, and geofenced self-driving cars – and there's a current obsession with wearable accessories. Meta has emerged as an early leader in AI wearables through its partnership with EssilorLuxottica, the owner of Ray-Ban and Oakley. The $299 glasses can answer a wearer's questions, play audio, and capture live photos and videos through built-in cameras, Meta says.
The products have faced significant pushback from privacy advocates, who are concerned that bystanders may not always realize they are being recorded. They have also been a hit. EssilorLuxottica said it sold more than 7 million AI glasses across its Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta lines last year.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said that fitting the tech into high-fashion eyewear will be essential to making the wearables mainstream. That makes Lorde's "not sexy" assessment particularly pointed – and she has some A-list credibility in the fashion department. She has walked the Met Gala red carpet four times, was on the cover of Vogue in 2021, and was a guest on designer Bella Freud's "Fashion Neurosis" podcast last year.
Her criticism also fits a recurring tension in her work: growing up online while trying to make disconnecting kinda cool. She previously told The New York Times she has tried ditching her phone after becoming alarmed by how much time she spent looking at its screen.
"Maybe the internet raised us," she sang in her debut 2013 album. "Or maybe people are jerks."
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