Meta is deepening its push into wearable technology with an AI-powered pendant scheduled for internal testing within the next year, according to an internal memo obtained by The Information. The device represents the company's latest attempt to move beyond smartphones and establish a foothold in ambient computing, a category that has proven notoriously difficult for startups.
The pendant builds on Meta's acquisition of Limitless, a startup that closed at the end of 2025. Limitless previously sold a clip-on device that recorded and transcribed conversations, raising more than $33 million from investors including Sam Altman and Andreessen Horowitz. The startup's founder, Dan Siroker, had described the product as a tool for “personal superintelligence,” a phrase that aligns closely with Meta's broader vision for artificial intelligence integrated into everyday objects.
The Rise and Fall of AI Pendants
Meta is entering a space with a troubled track record. Humane's AI Pin, launched in 2024 to much fanfare, was widely panned by reviewers for its unreliable performance, overheating issues, and lack of clear utility. The device effectively died within a year, and HP acquired Humane's assets for $116 million in a fire sale. Friend, another AI pendant startup, spent more than $1 million on subway advertisements in New York City but struggled to attract a meaningful user base. Neither product solved the fundamental problem: why would someone want to wear a dedicated gadget when their smartphone already handles most of the same tasks?
Meta's approach differs in several important ways. The company already has a successful wearables business in its Ray-Ban smart glasses, which sold more than seven million units in 2025 and command roughly 82% of the smart glasses market. The pendant would be a second form factor within an existing ecosystem, not a standalone product trying to create a new category from scratch. This ecosystem effect could give Meta a crucial advantage over earlier entrants.
Wearables for Work
The most commercially significant detail in the memo is a plan to launch a business subscription called Wearables for Work. This enterprise tier would reposition Meta's hardware as productivity tools rather than consumer novelties. Meta's glasses already integrate with Meta AI for voice queries, real-time translation, and visual identification. An enterprise subscription could add features like meeting transcription, ambient note-taking, CRM integration, and hands-free access to workplace tools—essentially mirroring Microsoft's Copilot subscription model but delivered through hardware rather than software.
The timing aligns with a broader trend in enterprise technology. Companies are increasingly looking for ways to reduce screen time and capture information more efficiently. Wearables that passively record data could integrate with existing workflows in sales, healthcare, manufacturing, and field services. Meta's ability to bundle hardware with software-as-a-service subscriptions could create recurring revenue streams that offset the heavy upfront costs of device production.
Reality Labs' Financial Burden
Meta's hardware division, Reality Labs, has been a major drain on the company's finances. The unit lost $4 billion in the first quarter of 2026 alone, and cumulative losses have exceeded $60 billion since its creation. The pendant and Wearables for Work subscription are part of a broader strategy to reverse those losses. Meta is also developing a planned smartwatch codenamed Malibu 2, continuing its line of VR headsets, and competing with Apple's Vision Pro in mixed reality. The company is betting that AI wearables will eventually generate enough revenue to make Reality Labs profitable.
But the financial path is uncertain. The smart glasses business, while growing, still operates on thin margins. The pendant faces the same adoption challenges that killed earlier products. And enterprise subscriptions, while lucrative, require significant investment in software development, partner integrations, and customer support.
Privacy and Regulatory Hurdles
Privacy concerns are likely to be a major obstacle. Meta's Ray-Ban glasses have already faced lawsuits over how they handle footage captured by their built-in cameras. A pendant that continuously records conversations raises the same issues in a more intimate form factor. People wearing the device may be recording others without explicit consent, creating legal and ethical problems in public and private spaces.
The regulatory environment in the European Union is particularly challenging. Meta is currently facing ongoing enforcement actions under the Digital Markets Act and General Data Protection Regulation. The company has been fined billions of euros for data privacy violations. EU regulators are likely to scrutinize any wearable that passively captures audio data, potentially restricting where the pendant can be sold or requiring strict consent mechanisms that would limit its utility.
Market Fragmentation in Wearables
The broader wearables market is fragmenting into distinct categories. The Apple Watch dominates the smartwatch segment but is losing momentum to simpler health trackers that prioritize battery life and passive data collection. Oura, the ring maker, has filed for an initial public offering. Whoop and Google's Fitbit Air focus on continuous biometric monitoring without a screen. Meta's pendant would sit in a fourth category: ambient AI capture. This is the always-on recording device that supplements rather than replaces a phone, designed to offload memory and note-taking tasks.
The category's success depends on whether Meta can make ambient AI recording useful enough that people will wear it, and trustworthy enough that the people around them will tolerate it. That dual challenge separated Humane and Friend from sustainable businesses. Meta has the resources to absorb failure, but it also has the most to lose if the pendant damages the company's already strained reputation on privacy.
The memo does not specify a public release date for the pendant, but internal testing indicates the company is moving quickly. Reality Labs is known for iterating rapidly, often releasing prototype hardware to employees for feedback before committing to mass production. The Wearables for Work subscription could launch sooner, potentially as early as this year, given that the software infrastructure for enterprise features already exists in Meta's AI platform.
For now, the pendant remains one piece of a much larger bet on AI wearables. Whether it succeeds where others failed will depend on Meta's ability to execute on hardware, software, and trust simultaneously.