Meta Connect 2026: Zuckerberg Takes the Stage Amid Smart Glasses Scrutiny

Mark Zuckerberg is delivering Meta's annual September keynote in Menlo Park today, and The Verge is covering the event live from the ground. Meta says the theme of this year's Connect keynote is how "Meta is building a future for everyone" — a phrase Zuckerberg used in a recent essay he wrote at length about AI, smart glasses, and more.

That framing gives a clear signal about what to expect. Zuckerberg and his team are expected to deliver news on AI and smart glasses, the two pillars of the essay that set the agenda for this year's show. Two threads stand out heading into the keynote: Meta's recently launched Muse AI agent and new glasses hardware.

Why this keynote matters

Meta Connect is the company's flagship product launch event of the year, and in 2026 it arrives at a moment when the stakes around Meta's hardware strategy have rarely been higher. Whatever Zuckerberg and Meta have to say about smart glasses will be particularly notable. As The Verge reports, the company is dealing with an outpouring of criticism — the details of which The Verge covers in its full live blog.

The pressure is not incidental. Smart glasses have become Meta's most visible consumer hardware bet, and the company has staked its next platform ambitions on the category. A keynote that was once primarily about virtual reality headsets now orbits around AI wearables, the Muse AI agent, and the broader question of how Meta plans to put artificial intelligence on people's faces.

Zuckerberg's recent essay, which Meta published under the title it used for the keynote theme, laid out his thinking on AI and smart glasses at length. The keynote gives him the stage to translate that writing into shipped products and concrete announcements.

What to watch

Based on Meta's own framing and The Verge's reporting from the ground, the key storylines for today's event are:

• AI announcements. Zuckerberg wrote extensively about AI in his essay, and the keynote is expected to expand on that vision. The recently launched Muse AI agent, which The Verge has previously covered, is one candidate for further news.
• New glasses hardware. Meta has signaled that smart glasses remain central to its roadmap, and The Verge expects new hardware announcements.
• The response to criticism. With the company facing what The Verge describes as an outpouring of criticism around its glasses efforts, every hardware announcement will be read against that backdrop.

The bigger picture

Meta Connect has become the annual moment when Zuckerberg sets the company's consumer technology agenda for the year ahead. In prior years the event has been the launchpad for Meta's AI assistants, its Ray-Ban smart glasses line, and its headset and Horizon OS updates. This year, the "future for everyone" framing suggests Meta wants to present its AI and wearables push as broadly accessible rather than niche.

The stakes are competitive as well as reputational. Meta is racing other major technology companies to define how consumers interact with AI in the physical world — through wearables, agents, and ambient computing — and Connect is where Meta makes its case publicly each September.

Live coverage

The Verge's live blog from Menlo Park is tracking the keynote as it happens, including reaction from reporters on the ground and details of each announcement as it is made. Readers can follow the full coverage, including the specifics of the criticism Meta is facing and every product update, at The Verge's live blog for the event.

Whatever lands today — new glasses hardware, Muse AI agent updates, or broader AI platform news — the keynote will set the terms for how Meta's hardware and AI strategy is judged over the coming year. The company came to Menlo Park with a message that it is "building a future for everyone"; the response to that claim, given the current scrutiny, is what will define this year's Connect.