The wearable technology market underwent a fundamental shift in 2025, moving beyond its traditional association with health and fitness towards becoming a primary platform for artificial intelligence (AI). While health tracking remains important, the industry’s trajectory has decisively changed, driven by both marketing and genuine technological evolution.
The Rise of “AI Glasses”
What was once simply called “smart glasses” is now aggressively rebranded as “AI glasses” by major tech companies like Meta and Google. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly stated that glasses represent the ideal form factor for AI, enabling discreet audio, image capture, and real-time AI-powered queries about the user’s surroundings. This isn’t just marketing; companies actively prefer this terminology, recognizing that AI capabilities are now the core selling point.
Google has also adopted the distinction, differentiating AI glasses from XR headsets and hybrid devices. The key is that AI is not an add-on, but the intended purpose of this new wave of eyewear. The shift signals a move from augmenting human abilities to embedding AI directly into everyday visual experiences.
Beyond Glasses: Always-Listening Wearables
The trend extends beyond eyewear. A new category of always-listening pendants and pins is emerging, exemplified by devices like Bee AI (acquired by Amazon), Friend (an AI necklace), Plaud NotePin, and Limitless. These gadgets aim to capture and process voice memos, summarize conversations, and even provide automated task lists based on daily activities. Some, like Friend, are marketed as constant companions that proactively offer insights about the user’s environment.
Even existing wearable formats are integrating AI: Samsung and Google have added Gemini to WearOS smartwatches, Fitbit is beta-testing an AI coach, Apple has embedded AI-powered translations into AirPods Pro 3, and Garmin is rolling out AI insights as a premium service. Fitness apps are also racing to integrate AI features that leverage wearable data.
The Advantage of “On-Body Presence”
The driving force behind this shift is the unique advantage wearables offer: constant physical proximity. According to Sandeep Waraich, Google’s Pixel Wearables product lead, wearables are “the only one device in our computing lives that is guaranteed on-body presence.” For AI assistants to function optimally, they need continuous access to user data – and the most reliable way to achieve that is through devices that remain with the user 24/7.
This trend raises significant implications for privacy and data collection. The inherent intimacy of wearables ensures a constant stream of biometric, environmental, and behavioral data, making them an ideal vehicle for AI-driven surveillance and personalization.
The rebranding of wearables as AI platforms isn’t just a marketing ploy; it’s a reflection of a deeper strategic realignment. As long as tech companies prioritize AI integration, this trend is likely to accelerate, fundamentally reshaping how we interact with technology and the world around us.
