Lorde slams Meta AI glasses as 'not sexy' at Madrid festival

During her performance at Mad Cool Festival in Madrid, pop star Lorde made an unfiltered critique of Meta's AI glasses, telling the audience: "Increasingly in our world, it gets harder and harder to know what is real. You don't know if someone is wearing sunglasses, or if they're wearing those f—ed up, f—ing [AI glasses]. Can I just say, for the record, f— the glasses. Don't get the glasses. Not sexy." The comment appeared to be prompted by the festival's sponsorship arrangement with Ray-Ban, which partners with Meta to manufacture the AI glasses, and by Lorde's placement immediately before singer Jennie, who serves as an ambassador for the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses line. Lorde's public opposition fits a pattern of her past commentary on technology—she has written previously about throwing her phone into the ocean—but her festival statement marked a particularly forceful and high-profile rejection of the latest tech trend.

Lorde is not alone in raising concerns about the glasses. Smart glasses equipped with cameras and AI capabilities have been documented as tools for harassment and extortion. While Meta has implemented privacy safeguards, including a visible recording light, and claims to take privacy seriously, the company is currently facing numerous investigations and multiple lawsuits alleging privacy violations. One particularly significant lawsuit alleges that Kenyan contract workers were forced to watch graphic videos that had been obtained using the glasses in order to help train Meta's AI systems. Meta has not publicly detailed its response to that specific claim.

Despite the privacy controversies and now public celebrity criticism, the glasses have achieved robust commercial performance. EssilorLuxottica, the company that manufactures Ray-Ban, reported that it sold more than 7 million Meta AI glasses in 2025—more than triple the roughly 2 million units it sold combined in 2023 and 2024. The strong sales have encouraged Meta to expand its smart glasses lineup further. The article concludes by suggesting that if privacy concerns do not deter consumers, perhaps Lorde's aesthetic judgment—that the glasses simply are not sexy—might succeed where warnings about surveillance fail.

Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses have become a major commercial success despite mounting privacy concerns. The product sold more than 7 million units in 2025 alone—a dramatic increase from prior years—even as the company faces multiple investigations and lawsuits over alleged privacy violations. One of the most serious allegations involves Kenyan contract workers being required to watch graphic videos obtained with the glasses to assist in training Meta's AI systems. The company has said it takes privacy seriously and includes safeguards like a visible recording light, but these measures have not quelled public skepticism or legal challenges. Lorde's public criticism at a high-profile festival underscores a growing cultural pushback against the technology, framing the glasses not only as a privacy liability but also as aesthetically undesirable—a sentiment that may resonate more broadly with consumers than technical privacy arguments alone.