If AR glasses replace smartphones, Meta escapes its dependency on Apple and Google’s mobile duopoly. The Ray-Ban smart glasses and EMG wristband from the $1 billion CTRL-labs acquisition represent Meta’s play for the next computing platform—but success requires winning at every layer of the AI stack simultaneously.
Meta’s strategic bet makes sense: AR represents the expansion phase of the AI Supercycle—unlocking adjacent industries that have not been viable for twenty years. The Ray-Ban smart glasses have shown surprising market traction. Recent earnings showed Meta shifting budget from metaverse teams toward AI wearables—a tacit acknowledgment that avatar-filled virtual worlds failed while always-available AI assistance is gaining adoption.
The Requirements Stack
The challenge: AR glasses require winning at every layer of the AI stack simultaneously. The always-on AI assistant needs:
Frontier model capability (competitive with ChatGPT)
Hardware integration (glasses, EMG wristband)
Distribution (Ray-Ban partnership, Meta’s user base)
Meta is strong at distribution and hardware partnerships but weak at the model layer—exactly backwards from what the vision requires.
The Superintelligence Timeline
Zuckerberg’s framework: best case, AGI arrives in 2-3 years and Meta is positioned; medium case, it takes 5-7 years and compute powers the core business; worst case, they slow building while growing into capacity.
The AR superintelligence play is the upside case—but it multiplies execution risk. Meta must simultaneously build gigawatt-scale infrastructure, fix its model deficit, integrate acquired talent, and ship consumer hardware. Each dependency creates failure points.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
