Ray-Ban Meta glasses sales hit 7m despite privacy backlash
Pop star Lorde's public rejection of Meta's AI glasses at a Madrid festival highlights a growing privacy backlash that has so far failed to dent booming sales for European manufacturer EssilorLuxottica.
During a performance at Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival last week, singer Lorde delivered a blunt critique of Meta’s AI-enabled sunglasses, telling the crowd to reject the technology because it is "not sexy."
The outburst was directly aimed at a festival sponsor. Ray-Ban, which backs the Madrid event, manufactures the hardware in partnership with Meta. Lorde’s set immediately preceded a performance by the singer Jennie, who serves as an official ambassador for the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses line. The contrast highlighted a deepening cultural divide over wearable surveillance technology, even as celebrities like Kylie Jenner actively promote the product.
Despite such high-profile public resistance, the commercial reality for the European eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica is overwhelmingly positive. The company sold more than 7 million Meta AI glasses in 2025 alone. This figure represents explosive growth, totaling more than triple the roughly 2 million units moved across both 2023 and 2024 combined.
The surging consumer demand has emboldened Meta to continuously expand the product lineup. For EssilorLuxottica, the Ray-Ban Meta collaboration has effectively become the undisputed driver of the smart-glasses market, turning a niche concept into a mainstream accessory.
However, the cultural unease voiced by Lorde mirrors serious legal threats looming over the product in Europe and beyond. Security experts have repeatedly flagged the glasses as a severe privacy risk, citing their documented use in harassment and extortion schemes.
Meta is currently facing multiple investigations and lawsuits alleging privacy violations tied to the devices. One pending legal claim alleges the company relied on Kenyan contract workers to view graphic videos captured by the glasses to train its AI systems. Meta has stated it takes privacy seriously and integrates physical safeguards like a visible recording light, but the company has not publicly detailed its response to the specific Kenyan labour claim.
For investors and executives, the central tension is clear. Consumers are purchasing the hardware in record numbers, yet the continuous data collection required to power the AI features attracts severe legal scrutiny. As Lorde told the Madrid crowd, "increasingly in our world, it gets harder and harder to know what is real," an anxiety that European regulators are almost certain to keep targeting.
