Meta is reportedly developing an AI-powered pendant, adding another device to its expanding wearables roadmap as the company looks for new ways to bring artificial intelligence out of apps and into everyday life.
The device is expected to begin testing within the next year, according to an internal memo first reported by The Information and later covered by TechCrunch, Reuters, Engadget, Indian Express, and other outlets. Meta has not publicly confirmed full product details, and Reuters reported that the company declined to comment on the report.
Still, the outline is clear enough to be significant. The pendant appears to be part of a larger Meta hardware push around AI wearables, not a one-off experiment. The company is reportedly expanding its smart glasses lineup, preparing a business-focused subscription service called Wearables for Work, and testing new device formats that could turn Meta AI into a more ambient, always-available assistant.
The reported pendant is especially notable because it appears to build on Meta’s 2025 acquisition of Limitless, an AI wearables startup known for a small clip-on device that could record, transcribe, and summarize real-world conversations. Limitless’ earlier product could be worn on a shirt or as a necklace, making Meta’s reported pendant feel less like a sudden pivot and more like the next phase of an acquisition strategy.
Why Meta wants AI off the phone
Meta’s broader goal is simple: it wants AI to become part of daily life without requiring users to open a phone, type a prompt, or sit in front of a screen. A pendant could offer a quieter interface for meetings, reminders, summaries, voice notes, and memory-style features.
That makes the product category attractive. A wearable assistant can sit closer to real-world context than an app. It can listen to conversations, capture details, organize notes, surface reminders, and potentially help users recall what was said during a meeting or interaction. For business users, that could mean automated meeting notes, field documentation, training support, sales follow-ups, and workplace knowledge capture.
A pendant may also be easier to sell in some settings than smart glasses. Glasses can feel visually intrusive, socially awkward, or too strongly associated with recording. A pendant could be cheaper, lighter, and less attention-grabbing. It may also avoid the prescription, fashion, and fit challenges that come with eyewear.
That does not mean the category is easy. AI wearables have struggled before. Some devices promised a future where personal AI would replace phone-based assistants, but early products often faced criticism over unclear usefulness, high prices, weak performance, poor marketing, and serious privacy concerns. The gap between a clever demo and a daily-use product has been wide.
Reality Labs needs more than experiments
The reported pendant also matters because Meta’s hardware business needs a clearer path to commercial relevance. Reality Labs, the division behind Meta’s VR, AR, and wearable ambitions, has lost billions of dollars over several years. Reuters reported that the division posted a $4.03 billion loss in the first quarter of 2026 on revenue of $402 million.
Those numbers explain why Meta’s wearables push is not only about futuristic product design. It is about business pressure. The company has spent heavily to build the infrastructure for mixed reality, smart glasses, and AI hardware. Now it needs products that can move beyond enthusiast audiences and become part of daily consumer or workplace routines.
The reported Wearables for Work subscription appears to fit that commercial strategy. Instead of relying only on consumers, Meta is reportedly exploring enterprise use cases where AI wearables could be easier to justify. Companies may be more willing to pay for tools that help with meetings, documentation, training, field work, customer interactions, or internal knowledge capture.
Reuters reported that Meta wants at least 10 companies to sign up for the business wearable service, citing the memo reported by The Information. That suggests Meta is testing not only the hardware, but also the business model around it.
Smart glasses remain the larger platform bet
The pendant is only one part of Meta’s reported hardware roadmap. Engadget’s coverage of the memo said Meta may release up to four new smart glasses models before the end of 2026, with internal codenames including Modelo, Luna, RBM2 Refresh, and Mojito VIP. The company is also reportedly testing future devices known as Artemis and SSG, or “supersensing” glasses.
Meta’s target is reportedly to sell 10 million wearables in the second half of 2026. If accurate, that would represent a major acceleration for its hardware ambitions.
Meta already has an advantage in this market through its Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses partnerships. Those products have given the company a real-world channel for camera-enabled and AI-assisted glasses, a category where many rivals still remain in concept or development stages. The glasses also give Meta a way to blend fashion, social capture, and AI assistance through familiar consumer brands.
The pendant could serve a different role within the same ecosystem. Glasses are useful for seeing, capturing, and interacting with the world visually. A pendant may be better for audio capture, meetings, and passive memory features. Together, they point toward a broader strategy: Meta wants a family of AI wearables that can understand more of a user’s physical environment.
The privacy problem is unavoidable
The biggest challenge may not be technical. It may be social trust.
A wearable that records, transcribes, or summarizes real-world conversations raises immediate questions. Who knows the device is recording? How is consent handled? What happens to the audio? Is data processed locally or in the cloud? Can bystanders opt out? Will the device include cameras, microphones, or other sensors? How long is information stored?
Those questions are especially sensitive for Meta because the company’s business history is deeply tied to data collection and targeted advertising. Even if the pendant is designed with privacy controls, the company will need to convince users and people around them that the product is safe, transparent, and not quietly turning daily life into another data source.
The current reports leave several important details unanswered. The final design is not clear. The launch date and price remain unknown. It is also unclear whether the pendant will include cameras, how recording indicators will work, or whether Meta will first test it with businesses before offering it broadly to consumers.
Indian Express also noted that technical details remain unclear, including whether the pendant will include cameras or other sensors. That uncertainty leaves privacy as the central open question.
A race to define the next AI interface
Meta is not alone in chasing AI hardware. OpenAI is working with Jony Ive’s hardware team on a new AI device, while Apple has reportedly explored AI-focused wearables such as glasses, AirPods upgrades, and pendant-like devices. The broader industry is trying to answer the same question: what comes after the smartphone app as the main interface for personal AI?
Meta’s advantage is that it already has working wearable products and major consumer distribution partnerships. Its weakness is that ambient AI hardware demands a level of trust that not every user will grant easily.
The reported pendant shows where Meta thinks the market may go next. AI will not stay trapped in chat windows. It will move into glasses, earbuds, pendants, workplace tools, and devices that sit close to the body.
The hard part will not be building a small AI recorder. Meta has the hardware talent, AI models, and acquisition base to do that. The harder task will be convincing people that an AI pendant is genuinely useful, socially acceptable, and safe enough to wear in the real world.
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