Meta has transformed from a social media startup into a major tech conglomerate, leveraging its platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook to push into artificial intelligence and virtual reality. The company's Quest VR headsets established it as a consumer hardware player, though its virtual reality ambitions have somewhat diminished in recent years.

Now Meta is doubling down on AI integration across its ecosystem through Meta AI, which runs on the company's proprietary Llama language models. This positions Meta against Google's Gemini in the competitive AI assistant market, where both tech giants vie for consumer attention and developer adoption.

To bring AI capabilities to everyday consumers, Meta has partnered with Ray-Ban and Oakley to develop smart glasses that combine Meta AI with visual input. These wearables can analyze what users see and deliver contextual responses, targeting practical applications from daily tasks to fitness tracking.

The strategy shows Meta pivoting toward AI-powered hardware as its next growth avenue, using partnerships rather than building everything in-house. This approach lets the company test market demand for AI wearables while competing directly with Google's broader ecosystem integration.