GoKawiilMeta's Ray-Bans are the most popular AI glasses available right now, but they're also making a lot of people feel unsettled, what with a camera that could be taking pictures of anyone, anytime, anywhere. What disappoints me about them, besides Meta's very confusing privacy policies, is how they entirely funnel you into using Meta AI.
You can't set up Meta's glasses with ChatGPT, Gemini or any other service. It makes Meta's glasses feel less useful and less like a truly versatile AI wearable.
There are other options, though. I've been wearing a pair of $379 glasses (on sale lately for $279) made by Chinese hardware manufacturer Rokid that look just like Meta Ray-Bans, but they offer the option to connect to several AI platforms. In the US, you can swap between ChatGPT and Gemini. Rokid also supports Deepseek and Qwen in other regions.
Smart glasses have been one of tech's fast-growing categories in the last year, even though the capabilities for these display, camera and AI-infused wearables have often been half-baked. Supporting more AI services is part of what these glasses need to do better to keep up with phones if they're going to be useful as AI wearables.
But temper your excitement if having AI glasses with multiple services interests you: You can't use Rokid AI glasses to log into your AI accounts. None of what you may already be doing on OpenAI or Gemini will carry over. Still, what Rokid's doing is exactly where more glasses and wearables need to head.
The glasses are lightweight. They don't have displays, but they do have a camera, speakers and microphones, just like Meta's. Scott Stein/CNET
Rokid AI glasses: Gemini or ChatGPT, but without personal accounts
You can choose between ChatGPT and Gemini on Rokid's phone app, which toggles which one the glasses use to power its on-glasses AI. Behind the scenes, Rokid's AI software is using either of these models to help answer questions and analyze photos taken with the camera on the Rokid AI glasses.
But switching between models didn't seem to make a huge difference, and it's unclear what version of Gemini or ChatGPT is being used.
It's a bit like how Apple Intelligence can tap into ChatGPT but can't access your personal ChatGPT account or data.
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