Mark Zuckerberg's highly anticipated reveal of Meta's new AI-powered smart glasses took a surprising turn on Wednesday, as back-to-back live demo failures marred the Connect 2025 keynote in Menlo Park, California.
According to FoxBusiness, the $799 wearable, called Meta Ray-Ban Display, was pitched as a breakthrough in "agentic AI"—a digital assistant that can act on behalf of users.
But during the live launch event, two separate demonstrations failed in front of a packed room, exposing technical problems that caught even the Meta CEO off-guard.
In one segment, Zuckerberg was joined by cooking creator Jack Mancuso to showcase LiveAI, a feature designed to walk users through everyday tasks like cooking.
Mancuso asked the glasses for help making a Korean-inspired steak sauce. But instead of guiding him step-by-step, the AI became confused—skipping ahead and giving instructions that didn't make sense.
"You've already combined the base ingredients, so now grate the pear," the assistant said, even though nothing had been prepared yet. Mancuso attempted to reset the instructions several times, but the AI didn't correct itself.
Eventually, Mancuso laughed off the moment and blamed the glitch on poor Wi-Fi, tossing the segment back to Zuckerberg.
"The irony of this whole thing is that you spend years making technology, and then the Wi-Fi on the day catches you," Zuckerberg said with a smile.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta ‘AI glasses’ fail live demo.#MarkZuckerberg #AIGlasses #META pic.twitter.com/ku68SaiySa
— The Tatva (@thetatvaindia) September 18, 2025
Wi-Fi Blamed as Zuckerberg Struggles With AI Glasses Onstage
The second demo didn't go much better. Zuckerberg tried to show off the Neural Band, a wrist device that lets users control the glasses using tiny hand gestures. He successfully sent a message to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth.
But when Bosworth tried to video call back using WhatsApp, the glasses failed to respond.
Zuckerberg tried multiple gestures to accept the call, but nothing happened. Bosworth eventually walked onstage and joked about the "brutal" Wi-Fi, drawing laughter from the audience.
"You practice these things like a hundred times, and then you never know what's gonna happen," Zuckerberg admitted, Mint reported.
Despite the setbacks, Zuckerberg remained upbeat, calling the new glasses a step forward in wearable AI.
He emphasized that the technology is still evolving and represents Meta's vision for a future where digital assistants are hands-free and deeply personal.
Tech journalist Lance Ulanoff, who attended the event, noted, "The AI was clearly confused and jumping around. But I give Zuckerberg credit—he handled it with calm and humor."
Originally published on vcpost.com
