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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Says Smart Glasses Make Him 'Very Uncomfortable'

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed discomfort with smart glasses during a podcast interview, saying he finds it 'very uncomfortable talking to people with a camera and a light.' He also reiterated his dislike for the devices, while discussing OpenAI's own hardware plans with Jony Ive.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Sep 1–2, 2026 Published 3h ago

Altman's Discomfort with Smart Glasses

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has made clear his discomfort with smart eyewear, a product category dominated by Meta. Speaking on tech journalist Alex Heath's "Sources Podcast," which was published on Tuesday, Altman said, "I find it very uncomfortable talking to people with a camera and a light."

Altman's dislike isn't new. When reporters asked him on the sidelines of last year's Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference if the sunglasses he was wearing were smart glasses, he replied, "Absolutely not. I don't like smart glasses."

The comments land squarely on Meta's turf. Meta, which also develops its own competing frontier AI models, has become one of the biggest players in the smart glasses category through its partnership with Ray-Ban. EssilorLuxottica, the company that owns Ray-Ban, said it sold more than 7 million pairs of AI-enabled glasses last year alone.

Smart Glasses: A Big Business for Meta

Despite the friction, smart glasses remain a significant business line for Meta. The company doesn't break out glasses-specific revenue in its earnings reports, but it has repeatedly said that rising AI-glasses sales are helping offset softer sales of its Quest VR headsets. In July, Meta reported that Reality Labs — the division covering its consumer hardware, including both glasses and Quest devices — generated $431 million in revenue during the second quarter of 2026, up $61 million from the same period a year earlier.

Meta has also recently mounted a PR blitz after some venues announced plans to ban patrons from wearing smart eyewear. Instagram has pledged to crack down on users who use smart glasses to secretly film harassing content, often in the form of prank or pick-up line reaction videos. Business Insider reporter Katie Notopoulos has found the social network still has work to do in this area.

OpenAI's Hardware Vision

While Altman distances himself from smart glasses, he hinted at OpenAI's own hardware ambitions. Working with famed iPhone designer Jony Ive, OpenAI is developing AI-enabled devices. Altman suggested a three-part vision: "I think there's something that belongs on a table, there's something that belongs in your pocket, and there's something that belongs on your body, and it'll take us some time to launch all of those things."

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

africa.businessinsider.com

Framing: Highlights Altman's personal discomfort with smart glasses, framing it as a personal stance rather than a business analysis.

as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Mark Zuckerberg doesn't have to worry about Sam Altman coming for his glasses.
Altman told tech journalist Alex Heath during an interview for Heath's 'Sources Podcast' that he finds it very uncomfortable talking to people with a camera and a light.
The podcast was published on Tuesday.
When reporters asked Altman on the sidelines of last year's Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference if the sunglasses he was sporting were smart glasses, he said 'Absolutely not' and 'I don't like smart glasses.'
Meta partners with Ray-Ban to make smart glasses devices.
EssilorLuxottica, which owns Ray-Ban, said it sold more than 7 million pairs of AI glasses last year.
Meta has recently mounted a PR blitz after some venues announced plans to ban patrons from wearing smart eyewear.
Instagram has pledged to crack down on users who use smart glasses to secretly film harassing content, often in the form of prank or pick-up line reaction videos.
Business Insider reporter Katie Notopoulos has found the social network still has work to do in this area.
In July, Meta reported that Reality Labs generated $431 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2026, up $61 million year-over-year.
OpenAI is developing AI-enabled devices alongside Jony Ive.
Altman said: 'I think there's something that belongs on a table, there's something that belongs in your pocket, and there's something that belongs on your body.'

Read the source article →

The Times of India

Framing: Highlights Altman's discomfort with Meta's smart glasses, quoting his direct criticism.

as of Sep 2, 2026, 7:16 AM UTC

Facts Included:

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on the Sources Podcast, 'I find it very uncomfortable talking to people with a camera and a light.'
At last year's Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, when asked if his sunglasses were smart glasses, Altman replied: 'Absolutely not. I don't like smart glasses.'
EssilorLuxottica, the owner of Ray-Ban, said it sold more than 7 million pairs of AI-enabled glasses last year alone.
In July, Meta reported that Reality Labs generated $431 million in Q2 2026 revenue, up $61 million year-over-year.
Meta has said higher AI-glasses sales are offsetting slower demand for its Quest headsets.
OpenAI is developing AI-enabled devices with famed iPhone designer Jony Ive.
Altman suggested a three-part vision: 'I think there’s something that belongs on a table, there’s something that belongs in your pocket, and there’s something that belongs on your body,and it’ll take us some time to launch all of those things.'

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimOpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on the Sources Podcast, 'I find it very uncomfortable talking to people with a camera and a light.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 2, 2026, 7:16 AM UTC, africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC
ClaimWhen asked at last year's Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference if his sunglasses were smart glasses, Sam Altman replied: 'Absolutely not. I don't like smart glasses.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 2, 2026, 7:16 AM UTC, africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC
ClaimEssilorLuxottica, the owner of Ray-Ban, said it sold more than 7 million pairs of AI-enabled glasses last year alone.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 2, 2026, 7:16 AM UTC, africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC
ClaimIn July, Meta reported that Reality Labs generated $431 million in Q2 2026 revenue, up $61 million year-over-year.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 2, 2026, 7:16 AM UTC, africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC
ClaimMeta has said higher AI-glasses sales are offsetting slower demand for its Quest headsets.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 2, 2026, 7:16 AM UTC, africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC
ClaimOpenAI is developing AI-enabled devices with famed iPhone designer Jony Ive.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 2, 2026, 7:16 AM UTC, africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC
ClaimAltman suggested a three-part vision for OpenAI's hardware: 'I think there’s something that belongs on a table, there’s something that belongs in your pocket,and there’s something that belongs on your body,and it’ll take us some time to launch all of those things.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Sep 2, 2026, 7:16 AM UTC
ClaimThe Sources Podcast featuring Altman was published on Tuesday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC
ClaimMeta partners with Ray-Ban to make smart glasses devices.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC, The Times of India as of Sep 2, 2026, 7:16 AM UTC
ClaimMeta has recently mounted a PR blitz after some venues announced plans to ban patrons from wearing smart eyewear.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC
ClaimInstagram has pledged to crack down on users who use smart glasses to secretly film harassing content, often in the form of prank or pick-up line reaction videos.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC
ClaimBusiness Insider reporter Katie Notopoulos has found the social network still has work to do in this area.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via africa.businessinsider.com as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: africa.businessinsider.com, The Times of India 12 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-02