The news: Meta acquired AI wearables startup Limitless as part of an effort to accelerate development of AI-enabled devices. Limitless’ main product is an AI-powered pendant that records, transcribes, and summarizes users’ conversations.

• The wearable company will continue supporting existing customers’ pendants for “at least another year” and is removing subscription costs, per CEO Dan Siroker, but won’t sell devices to new customers.
• Some Limitless users in markets including the UK and South Korea reported on LinkedIn that their devices have stopped working.

Zooming in: Acquiring Limitless is likely less about the pendant itself and more about getting access to the startup’s technology, which Meta may integrate into future products. This could help Meta leapfrog years of research and development, especially as it faces staggering losses in its Reality Labs division.

Meta could fold Limitless’ capabilities into products like Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses or future AR and AI wearables—just in time to compete with a pending AI device from OpenAI and Jony Ive and AI glasses from Google, which are expected to launch in 2026.

It could also integrate Limitless’ Rewind software—which can compress over 10 GB of data into a 3 MB file, per 9to5Mac—into its glasses to maximize storage. This could boost competition between wearables and smartphones, though it’s unlikely that the smartphone will become obsolete any time soon.

What it means for the industry: The winners in the AI wearables category could be those that balance hardware innovation with the privacy challenges that come with always-on intelligence.

Meta could avoid more product delays and succeed where others have failed if it can combine Limitless’ ambient AI features into hardware people already use—like its smart glasses.

This content is part of EMARKETER’s subscription Briefings, where we pair daily updates with data and analysis from forecasts and research reports. Our Briefings prepare you to start your day informed, to provide critical insights in an important meeting, and to understand the context of what’s happening in your industry. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.