Meta Connect 2026 preview: AI wearables and a camera pivot lead the keynote

Meta Connect 2026 opens at 7PM ET on Wednesday, September 23rd, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg scheduled to deliver the keynote at Meta's annual product showcase — and an agenda dominated by AI, smart glasses, and a long-rumored exit from recording hardware.

The keynote runs from 4PM PT and follows a year in which, according to The Verge's preview coverage, Meta has sharpened its "major focus on AI and wearables like smart glasses." Headlining the expected announcements: a standalone Muse AI gadget, a camera-free variant of the Ray-Ban Meta line, and the public reveal of mixed reality glasses leaked under the codename Project Phoenix.

What is on the Connect 2026 agenda?

According to The Verge's coverage hub for the event, the keynote will surface seven distinct announcements across hardware and software:

• A standalone Muse AI gadget, Meta's first dedicated device for its consumer AI agent
• A camera-free version of the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses line
• Mixed reality glasses developed internally as Project Phoenix
• A Muse upgrade adding two-way video chat
• The rollout of Muse functionality on existing Ray-Ban Meta glasses
• Transactional movie rentals and purchases on the Quest headset
• Confirmation that Meta's next VR device will be glasses, not a headset

The list reflects a hardware strategy that has visibly shifted away from the bulky headset form factor that defined Meta's VR business in prior years.

What is Muse?

Muse is the brand Meta has applied to its consumer-facing AI agent, and Connect 2026 marks the first time the company has wrapped that agent in dedicated hardware. The Verge's preview coverage describes a "standalone Muse AI gadget" — a phone-free device built around conversational AI rather than a screen or camera.

Meta is also folding Muse into its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and upgrading the agent's underlying capabilities. New features include two-way video chat, allowing users to hold face-to-face conversations with the AI rather than only receiving text or audio responses. The Verge's coverage notes that the upgrade will "let you video chat with it, too," framing Muse as the connective layer across Meta's hardware portfolio — from glasses to a standalone device to existing headsets.

Why is Meta dropping the camera from its smart glasses?

The camera-free smart glasses represent Meta's most direct response to months of public criticism over how Ray-Ban Meta wearers have used the built-in camera to record strangers without consent. The Verge's preview coverage flagged the issue directly: "The company has been facing significant scrutiny because of how some users have been covertly recording other people using the glasses."

The new model — referenced in early coverage under the Meta Luna branding — strips out the recording hardware while preserving the audio and AI features that have defined the Ray-Ban Meta line. The Verge's preview noted that "one of the biggest announcements of the show could be its rumored camera-free pair," a clear signal that Meta views the privacy optics as a commercial problem as much as a regulatory one.

The trade-off is significant. The camera has powered computer vision, photo capture, and live AI assistance — all features Meta has positioned as essential to the smart-glasses thesis. Removing them signals that the company is willing to forgo a defining feature to neutralize a sustained critique.

What is Project Phoenix?

Project Phoenix is the internal codename for what appears to be Meta's first pair of mixed reality glasses — a lighter, eyewear-form-factor device designed to replace the Quest headset as the company's primary immersive hardware. A pre-event leak on The Verge described the device as "unannounced mixed reality glasses," though Meta had not publicly confirmed the name or the form factor before the keynote.

The leak lands at a delicate moment for Meta's immersive hardware strategy. Earlier coverage linked from the Connect hub confirms that Meta shut down its standalone VR metaverse product on June 15th, formalizing a retreat from the headset-first approach that defined the company's earlier VR push.

Project Phoenix, if confirmed on stage, would represent the clearest signal yet that Meta intends to compete in immersive hardware through glasses rather than headsets — a form factor closer to sunglasses than to a Quest visor. The Verge's preview coverage described the leak as a possible indication that "Meta will show off new immersive headwear technology during the event."

What changes for Quest owners?

Meta also plans to bring transactional video to the Quest headset. Soon after Connect, users will be able to rent or buy movies directly through their devices, The Verge's coverage confirms — a move that extends Meta's hardware footprint into content commerce and reframes the Quest as a media hub rather than a gaming-only peripheral.

The Verge's coverage frames the feature as "soon" without specifying a launch date, partner studios, or pricing tiers. Meta has not yet disclosed which film catalogs will be available through the platform or how the storefront will integrate with the headset's existing software.

Why does Meta Connect 2026 matter?

Connect has traditionally been Meta's venue for updates on VR hardware and software, but the 2026 edition lands at a strategic inflection point. The keynote will offer the first public evidence of whether the company's post-metaverse strategy — AI agents and AI-native wearables — can produce shipping products across multiple form factors at once.

The stakes extend beyond Menlo Park. Every Meta Connect announcement reshapes the competitive map for the broader smart-glasses category, where a growing roster of companies are racing to define what an AI wearable looks like, what it records, and how it handles consent in public spaces. Meta's decision to ship a camera-free variant will likely be parsed by competitors weighing whether to follow suit or hold the line on recording hardware.

For a company that spent years pitching cameras-on-glasses as the next computing platform, the camera-free variant is the keynote's most consequential admission: the future of AI eyewear, at least as Meta plans to ship it, may look quieter than the company once promised.

The keynote begins at 7PM ET on September 23rd, with The Verge running live coverage from the floor.