While celebrities like Kylie Jenner promote Meta's AI eyewear, New Zealand pop star Lorde has made her stance unmistakably clear: she wants nothing to do with them. During her performance at the Mad Cool Festival in Madrid, the singer delivered a blunt message to the audience about the increasingly popular technology.
"Increasingly in our world, it gets harder and harder to know what is real," Lorde told the crowd. She expressed frustration over the ambiguity of not knowing whether someone is simply wearing sunglasses or sporting AI-equipped eyewear. Her verdict was unambiguous: the glasses are, in her words, "not sexy."
Festival Ties to Smart Eyewear Brand
The timing of Lorde's comments may not have been coincidental. Ray-Ban, a sponsor of Mad Cool Festival, produces its AI glasses line in partnership with Meta. Adding to the context, Lorde's set took place immediately before a performance by Jennie, who serves as an ambassador for the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses collection.
Lorde has previously been open about her desire to disconnect from technology, once writing about throwing her phone into the ocean. Her onstage remarks about AI glasses represent an escalation of her skepticism toward digital devices and their growing presence in everyday life.
Privacy Concerns and Legal Challenges
Lorde is far from alone in her apprehension. Security experts have widely flagged smart glasses — which integrate cameras and artificial intelligence capabilities — as a significant privacy risk. The devices have reportedly been used as instruments of harassment and extortion.
Meta, which dominates the smart glasses market, has stated that it takes privacy seriously and has implemented protective measures such as a visible recording indicator light. However, the company currently faces multiple investigations and lawsuits alleging privacy violations.
One particularly troubling lawsuit claims that Kenyan contract workers were required to view graphic videos captured through the glasses as part of Meta's AI training process. Meta has not publicly detailed its response to that specific allegation.