Google is partnering with the American eyewear brand Warby Parker to jointly develop artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smart glasses. For this purpose, Google has decided to invest a total of $150 million (approximately 200 billion KRW).
This collaboration was unveiled at Google’s annual developer event ‘Google I/O’ in 2025. Google views this project as a core strategic wearable initiative utilizing its Android XR platform and the latest AI technology, Gemini. The industry anticipates this collaboration to be a direct confrontation with Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses.
The two companies plan to launch AI-enabled smart glasses ‘after 2025’. Both prescription and non-prescription lenses will be available, and they will feature a lightweight design for all-day wear. Through this, Google intends to surpass the failure of Google Glass and introduce a product that boasts both practicality and mass appeal.
The investment structure is divided into two phases. Initially, $75 million has already been allocated to Warby Parker for product development and commercialization costs. Upon achieving certain milestones, an additional $75 million will be invested, during which Google will also acquire a portion of Warby Parker’s shares.
The smart glasses will feature basic hardware such as cameras, microphones, and speakers, in addition to a display function that projects notification information onto the lenses. During the I/O event, Google emphasized the technological completeness by demonstrating features such as real-time language translation, message sending, schedule management, navigation, and photo capturing.
Dave Gilboa, co-CEO of Warby Parker, stated, “Multimodal AI is most suitable in the form of glasses, providing new tools for users to recognize and respond to their surroundings in real time as they move.”
The market reaction was immediate. Shortly after the announcement, Warby Parker’s stock price rose 25.9% during the day to reach $22.15, closing up 16.8% by the end of the day. This reflected market expectations for Warby Parker’s expanded influence in the smart glasses market.
Meanwhile, Google is also pursuing partnerships with various global brands such as Korea’s Gentle Monster, Samsung Electronics, and Kering, in addition to this collaboration. This is part of its strategy to expand the Android XR ecosystem and secure dominance in the wearable market.