--- title: "Surprise! Meta Says Now You Have to Pay a Monthly Subscription to Use Key Features of Your Already Expensive Smart Glasses" description: "Meta's smart glasses will now become even more expensive, thanks to a $19.99 a month subscription that will \"rate limit\" certain AI features." date: "2026-07-04" modified: "2026-07-04" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/meta-monthly-subscription-ai-glasses" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" - "Meta" --- # Surprise! Meta Says Now You Have to Pay a Monthly Subscription to Use Key Features of Your Already Expensive Smart Glasses ![A still from Meta's ad campaign featuring Kylie Jenner. Written over it in crude white marker is "GIVE US MORE MONEY PLEASE :)"]() *Meta / Tag Hartman-Simkins for Futurism* Last month, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta became [embroiled in a major controversy]() after *Wired* [found]() that it had discreetly included facial recognition tech in the software of its lineup of popular smart glasses. The camera-equipped spectacles had already become a privacy lightning rod, with [users secretly recording strangers](), often without their consent — earning the spectacles the pejorative nickname of "[pervert glasses]()." Now, in addition to their already steep price, Meta's AI-enabled glasses will become even more expensive, thanks to a $19.99 a month subscription that will "rate limit" their sought-after AI features, as [*The Verge* reports](). Meta is launching a new Meta One Premium subscription that will be required for anybody trying to get the most out of their pricy eyewear. While the company [insists]() that owners technically don't have to shell out $20 a month, even premium subscribers will be locked out after using 15 hours of "Conversation Focus," a feature that amplifies the voices of people you're talking to, per month. Without a subscription, owners are restricted to just three hours of the feature a month. At a glance, you might think the development yet again highlights how quickly access to AI compute has shot up in price, in soaring costs that tech giants are [starting to pass along to their customers](). However, as *The Verge* points out, Conversation Focus doesn't require any internet connection to function, meaning that it doesn't actually have to connect to a remote server to process data. In other words, Meta appears to be squeezing money out of power users by arbitrarily charging them more for a device they already bought. "Does Meta have some secret licensing deal with another company that costs it money every time a person uses Conversation Focus?" *The Verge*'s Sean Hollister asked rhetorically. "Failing that, the rate limit sounds utterly bogus." Zooming out, Meta's AI efforts have run into major roadblocks, from [rock-bottom morale among employees]() to [chaotic management](). By making its smart glasses — which, despite all of the controversy, have been [selling in the millions]() — even more expensive for power users, the company could be hamstringing its one successful AI project. **More on Meta:** [*Meta’s Program That Spies on Every Employee’s Computer Just Blew Up in Its Face in Spectacular Fashion*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()