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Meta's Ray-Bans are the most popular AI glasses available right now, but they're also making a lot of people feel unsettled, what with a camera that could be taking pictures of anyone, anytime, anywhere. What disappoints me about them, besides Meta's very confusing privacy policies, is how they entirely funnel you into using Meta AI.
You can't set up Meta's glasses with ChatGPT, Gemini or any other service. It makes Meta's glasses feel less useful and less like a truly versatile AI wearable.
There are other options, though. I've been wearing a pair of $379 glasses (on sale lately for $279) made by Chinese hardware manufacturer Rokid that look just like Meta Ray-Bans, but they offer the option to connect to several AI platforms. In the US, you can swap between ChatGPT and Gemini. Rokid also supports Deepseek and Qwen in other regions.
Smart glasses have been one of tech's fast-growing categories in the last year, even though the capabilities for these display, camera and AI-infused wearables have often been half-baked. Supporting more AI services is part of what these glasses need to do better to keep up with phones if they're going to be useful as AI wearables.
But temper your excitement if having AI glasses with multiple services interests you: You can't use Rokid AI glasses to log into your AI accounts. None of what you may already be doing on OpenAI or Gemini will carry over. Still, what Rokid's doing is exactly where more glasses and wearables need to head.
The glasses are lightweight. They don't have displays, but they do have a camera, speakers and microphones, just like Meta's.
Scott Stein/CNETRokid AI glasses: Gemini or ChatGPT, but without personal accounts
You can choose between ChatGPT and Gemini on Rokid's phone app, which toggles which one the glasses use to power its on-glasses AI. Behind the scenes, Rokid's AI software is using either of these models to help answer questions and analyze photos taken with the camera on the Rokid AI glasses.
But switching between models didn't seem to make a huge difference, and it's unclear what version of Gemini or ChatGPT is being used.
It's a bit like how Apple Intelligence can tap into ChatGPT but can't access your personal ChatGPT account or data.
The models have subtle differences. To test, I asked what was in front of me using Gemini and then using ChatGPT, as the glasses took a photo of my messy living room to analyze using the onboard 12-megapixel camera. Here are the answers they gave:
Gemini
You are looking at a cozy living room area. In the foreground, there is a gray ottoman cluttered with electronics, including a handheld gaming device and various cables. To the right, a white bookshelf is filled with books and a green Kermit the Frog plush.
In the background, there is a white brick fireplace decorated with a silver ornament tree and string lights. Next to it stands a tall black tower fan and a glass-paneled door leading to another room. It looks like a very comfortable, lived-in space.
ChatGPT
You're looking at a cozy, lived‑in living room.
Here's what stands out:
A white built‑in bookshelf filled with books and a green plush character sitting on one shelf.
A glass‑paneled wooden door leading to another room with tables and items visible through it.
A white brick fireplace on the left, decorated with a small tree‑shaped ornament covered in silver balls and lights.
A tall black tower fan next to the fireplace.
In the foreground, a cluttered ottoman or table with electronics, cables, notebooks, and small devices.
A small folding table on the right with snacks and a drink.
Let me know if you want details about any particular item.
Tonally, they're different. ChatGPT was more diagnostic. Gemini, more… holistic?
But without my own data from my existing ChatGPT and Gemini sessions, these glasses had no idea who I was. I was starting all over again with an impersonal AI.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against ChatGPT maker OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
I wish these glasses would let me access data on other accounts -- but how safe would that be?
Scott Stein/CNETThings could change soon
Google's upcoming Gemini-powered glasses could redefine the landscape. Google's glasses will tap into personal Google account information and its AI apps, like Nano Banana and NotebookLM, so any work you've done there should show up, and new activity will carry over. They should feel like extensions of your phone and the Google apps you already use.
Apple's also expected to have its own glasses, which may be announced as soon as this year. Based on what we already know about Siri and the new Gemini AI partnership, Apple could be taking a similar personalized path, with glasses being phone extensions.
Meta, as of now, hasn't been able to do that well. Meta has no phone OS, and even its Meta AI services don't show deep awareness of what you're up to across your Threads, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp accounts. Maybe you don't want that to ever happen, but it also makes Meta's on-glasses AI feel antiseptic and generic.
And of course, the number of AI glasses makers is multiplying daily. But AI platforms need to make better integrations for these types of AI wearables, too. OpenAI and Anthropic have no direct path for making their software work seamlessly on wearables yet.
Glasses like Even Realities' G2, which technically access OpenAI, have the same problem Rokid's have. You can't log into your existing account, and Even seems to just want you to build your own relationship with AI features on its own phone app.
In the meantime, it's at least good to know that glasses like Rokid AI exist as alternatives to Meta, should you be that interested in camera- and audio-enabled smart glasses and really don't want Meta to be on your face. But Rokid's answer is only a half step for now. Switching between models is great, but I want to switch AI accounts on these glasses, too.
