Years from now, 2025 will stand out as the moment wearable technology underwent a major transformation. For more than a decade, wearables have been closely associated with health and fitness — and that connection still largely holds. But this year, a new narrative has taken hold. An increasing number of tech companies are now positioning wearables not just as wellness tools, but as platforms for artificial intelligence.
The most obvious example is what were once commonly called smart glasses. At CES last January, it became clear that the surprise success of Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses was influencing the broader market. The show floor was filled with both audio-focused and display-equipped glasses pitching a future of hands-free, immersive computing. But something else stood out: companies began correcting the terminology. “Could you stop calling them smart glasses?” some asked in conversations and emails. “We see them as AI glasses.”
That phrasing initially came from Meta, and at first, it sounded like branding spin. After all, smart glasses are still smart glasses — a category most people associate with the highly public failure of Google Glass a decade ago. But the shift is deliberate. Meta consistently refers to its eyewear as AI glasses in marketing materials, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said he believes glasses are the ideal hardware form factor for AI. They act as discreet speakers worn on the face, can capture photos, and allow users to ask AI questions about the world around them.
Meta isn’t alone in reframing the category. While demoing Android XR features recently, Google explained that it now distinguishes between AI glasses, XR headsets, and a hybrid category in between. In Google’s definition, AI glasses are lightweight, fashionable, and centered on interacting with Gemini. Devices like Project Aura, despite their glasses-like shape, are considered closer to full headsets. Semantics aside, the unifying message is clear: AI is the killer feature that companies believe will finally unlock mass adoption.
Beyond eyewear, a new class of wearables is gaining traction — always-listening pins, pendants, and accessories. Bee AI, recently acquired by Amazon, fits this mold, as does Friend, an AI-powered necklace that drew attention with a controversial New York City subway ad campaign. Other examples include Plaud’s NotePin, Limitless, and a wave of startups pitching similar concepts. There’s even an AI smart ring designed to capture whispered voice memos. These devices are meant to stay with users throughout the day, using AI to summarize meetings, conversations, and notes, and in some cases generate task lists. Friend, in particular, markets itself as a constant companion that occasionally messages users about what’s happening around them.
At the same time, AI is being layered into existing wearable products. In 2025 alone, both Samsung and Google added Gemini to Wear OS smartwatches. Fitbit began beta testing an AI-powered coaching feature. Apple introduced Apple Intelligence-driven translations in AirPods Pro 3 and launched its AI-based Workout Buddy coach on the Apple Watch. Oura brought its Oura Advisor chatbot out of beta, while Garmin introduced AI-generated insights as a paid feature for its smartwatches. Fitness apps, meanwhile, are racing to add AI tools that integrate directly with wearable data.
One conversation keeps resurfacing in my mind. In August, Sandeep Waraich, Google’s product lead for Pixel Wearables, described wearables as “the only device in our computing lives that is guaranteed on-body presence.” Phones — and the AI assistants inside them — can be put away. But for AI to be truly effective, it needs deep, continuous context about a person’s life. That requires constant proximity. And nothing provides that better than a device designed to live on your body.
It’s an uneasy realization, but wearables are increasingly becoming synonymous with AI. And as long as tech companies see on-body devices as the most natural home for AI assistants, this shift is unlikely to slow down anytime soon.
