Meta plans to add facial recognition technology to its smart glasses, the report claims

Meta plans to add facial recognition to its smart glasses as soon as this year, according to a new report from The New York Times. This feature, known internally as “Name Tag,” will allow smart glasses wearers to identify people and get information about them through Meta’s AI assistant.

The report indicates that Meta’s plans may change. The tech giant has been deliberating since early last year about how to release a feature that poses “safety and privacy risks.”

According to an internal memo, the company had originally planned to release the Name Tag to attendees of a conference for the visually impaired before releasing it to the public, but ultimately did not do so.

Meta reportedly saw the political unrest in the United States as a good time to release this feature.

“We will emerge during a dynamic political environment in which the resources of many civil society groups that we anticipate will attack us will focus their resources on other concerns,” the document said.

Meta considered adding facial recognition technology to the first edition of its Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2021, but dropped the plans due to technical challenges and ethical concerns. The New York Times reported that the company revived its plans as the Trump administration approached major technology companies, and after the unexpected success of its smart glasses.