Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s keynote at this year\u2019s Connect wasn\u2019t exactly smooth\u2014especially if count two big hiccups that sidetracked live demos for both the latest Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and the new Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses.<\/p>\n
Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) smart glasses<\/a> essentially bring the same benefits as Oakley Meta HSTN, which launched back in July:\u00a0longer battery life and better video capture.<\/p>\n One of the biggest features though is its access to Meta\u2019s large language model (LLM), Meta AI, which pops up when you say \u201cHey Meta\u201d, letting you ask questions about anything, from the weather to what the glasses camera can actually see.<\/p>\n As part of the on-stage demo of its Live AI feature, which runs continuously instead of sporadically, food influencer Jack Mancuso attempted to create a Korean-inspired steak sauce using the AI as a guide.<\/p>\n And it didn\u2019t go well, as Mancuso struggled to get the Live AI back on track after missing a key step in the sauce\u2019s preparation.\u00a0You can see the full cringe-inducing glory for yourself, timestamped below:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And the reason behind it is\u2026 well, just dumb. Jake Steineman,\u00a0Developer Advocate at\u00a0Meta\u2019s Reality Labs, explained what happened in an X post:<\/p>\n So here\u2019s the story behind why yesterdays live #metaconnect<\/a> demo failed \u2013 when the chef said \u201cHey Meta start Live AI\u201d it activated everyone\u2019s Meta AI in the room at once and effectively DDOS\u2019d our servers \ud83e\udd23<\/p>\n That\u2019s what we get for doing it live!<\/p>\n \u2014 Jake Steinerman \ud83d\udd1c Meta Connect (@jasteinerman) September 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Unfortunate, yes. But also pretty foreseeable, especially considering the AI \u2018wake word\u2019 gaffe has been a thing since the existence of Google Nest (ex-Home) and Amazon Alexa.<\/p>\n Anyone with one of those friendly tabletop pucks has probably experienced what happens when a TV advert includes \u201cHey Google\u201d or \u201cHey Alexa,\u201d unwittingly commanding every device in earshot to tell them the weather, or even order items online<\/a>.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more surprising though: there were enough people using a Meta product in earshot to screw with its servers. Meta AI isn\u2019t like Google Gemini or Apple\u2019s Siri\u2014it doesn\u2019t have OS-level access to smartphones. The only devices with default are the company\u2019s Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta glasses (and Quest if you opt-in), conjuring the image of a room full of confused, bespectacled Meta employees waiting out of shot.<\/p>\n As for the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses<\/a>, which the company is launching in the US for $799 on September 30th, the hiccup was much more forgivable. Zuckerberg was attempting to take a live video call from company CTO Andrew Bosworth, who after several missed attempts, came on stage to do an ad hoc\u00a0simulation of what it might have been like.<\/p>\n Those sorts of live product events are notoriously bad for both Wi-Fi and mobile connections, simply because of how many people are in the room, often with multiple devices per-person. Still, Zuckerberg didn\u2019t pull a Steve Jobs, where the former Apple CEO demanded everyone in attendance at iPhone 4\u2019s June 2010 unveiling turn off their Wi-Fi\u00a0<\/a>after an on-stage connection flub.<\/p>\n You can catch the Meta Ray-Ban Display demo below (obligatory cringe warning):<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n