By Priya Pathak
Copyright republicworld
Meta’s Connect 2025 keynote was supposed to be the company’s strongest push yet into the world of wearable AI. New glasses, new features, and fresh promises of a future where your eyes replace your phone. However, instead of just headlines about new hardware, what stole the show was a live demo that went wrong. Meta’s top people and the top AI messed up in a kind of slip-up that reveals the fragility of such a polished tech keynote. Chef and content creator Jack Mancuso took the stage alongside Mark Zuckerberg to demonstrate how Meta AI could guide someone in real time. The idea was to seek AI assistance through the new Ray-Ban Display glasses in mixing “Korean-inspired steak sauce” for his steak sandwich. The system was supposed to act like a hands-free cooking assistant, breaking down the steps one by one.Instead, it broke down in front of everyone. When Mancuso asked what the first step was, the assistant jumped ahead, insisting he had already “combined the base ingredients”, something he hadn’t done yet. Each time he tried to reset the conversation, the AI repeated itself or skipped forward. The exchange became increasingly awkward until the demo was quietly cancelled.On stage, Zuckerberg and his team pointed to poor WiFi as the reason for the failure. Connectivity, they said, disrupted the AI’s flow. The crowd responded with good-natured laughter, but the fact remained that this was supposed to be a showcase of “Live AI”, and live, it didn’t deliver.The cooking goof-up wasn’t the only problem. Another demo involving a WhatsApp video call controlled by gestures also failed. The call didn’t connect as expected, once again blamed on the venue’s network. While live events are notorious for shaky internet, the repeated failures underscored how dependent Meta’s vision of the future is on flawless connectivity.Despite the hiccups, Meta did reveal its most ambitious lineup yet. The new Ray-Ban Display comes with a built-in lens screen. The refreshed Ray-Ban Meta glasses last longer and capture sharper video. And for athletes, Oakley’s Meta Vanguard offers sports-focused tracking and durability.Read More: Meta AI-powered Smart Glasses Launched | 5 Key Features
