Mark Zuckerberg's recent keynote at MetaConnect 2025 quickly became a source of embarrassment for the tech giant. During the presentation, the much-anticipated demos of the company's new artificial intelligence-powered smart glasses fell flat, leaving Zuckerberg visibly flustered. The CEO struggled through awkward silences as he attempted to demonstrate the capabilities of the smart glasses, notably when they failed to accept a WhatsApp video call on stage. “This is, uh... it happens,” he stammered, adding, “Let’s try it again; I keep messing this up.”
Another segment of the keynote featured content creator and amateur chef Jack Mancuso, who was trying to use the AI glasses to assist him in preparing a steak sauce. Unfortunately, the demonstration took a turn for the worse when the Live AI feature mistakenly believed Mancuso had already combined the base ingredients for the sauce, despite him standing in front of an empty glass bowl. “You already combined the base ingredients,” the AI told him, prompting laughter and confusion in the audience. This incident starkly highlighted the significant challenges facing Meta as it attempts to integrate AI technology into its Ray-Ban smart glasses.
Following the keynote, Andrew Bosworth, Meta's Chief Technology Officer, took to Instagram for an “ask-me-anything” session where he explained the technical mishaps. He insisted that the failures were due to a demo issue rather than a product failure. “When the chef said, ‘Hey Meta, start Live AI,’ it started every single Ray-Ban Meta’s Live AI in the building,” Bosworth explained. He noted that the rehearsal did not account for the number of devices present, stating, “That obviously didn’t happen in rehearsal.”
Meta encountered another major setback during the keynote when it inadvertently routed all traffic to its dev server, effectively conducting a self-inflicted denial-of-service attack. “We DDoS’d ourselves, basically,” Bosworth admitted, referencing a common cyberattack method that overwhelms a network with excessive traffic. This series of blunders continued when Zuckerberg attempted to make a WhatsApp video call using the Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, which failed due to a previously unseen bug. “You guys know we can do video calling,” Bosworth pleaded on Instagram. “We got WhatsApp; we know how to do video calling.”
Despite Bosworth's explanations, skepticism remains about whether users should take the CTO’s excuses at face value. The potential for encountering software bugs is a reality that many users of smart glasses might face, alongside the risk of experiencing hallucinations—a common issue with AI technologies. This raises the question: is it worth spending $379 on the standard smart glasses or $799 for the version with a small screen, especially if users may find themselves misled by a robotic voice?
Interestingly, journalists who had the chance to try the Meta smart glasses seemed to have a surprisingly positive experience. This raises the possibility that Zuckerberg's disastrous keynote may have been a result of inadequate planning rather than flaws in the product itself. As Meta moves forward with its ambitious AI integration, only time will tell if these smart glasses can live up to the expectations set during the keynote.
In summary, while the MetaConnect 2025 keynote was marred by technical difficulties and awkward moments for Zuckerberg, the underlying technology of the AI-powered smart glasses still holds promise. The real question is whether Meta can overcome these initial setbacks and deliver a product that meets consumer expectations.
