Meta’s Smart Glasses Demo Falters as Mark Zuckerberg Blames Wi-Fi Glitch

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced an awkward moment during the company’s recent Connect Developers Conference after a series of technical failures plagued the live demo of its new Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses.

Meta Demo Wi-Fi Fail

The launch, held on September 17 at Meta’s Menlo Park headquarters, was meant to showcase the next evolution of Meta’s wearable line — featuring a built-in display, upgraded performance, and the new Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses with a gesture-interpreting wristband. Instead, glitches left the billionaire tech chief visibly embarrassed on stage.

🍳 Cooking Demo Goes Wrong

During a segment highlighting the glasses’ AI-powered practical use, food creator Jack Mancuso attempted to use the device to generate a recipe for a Korean-inspired steak sauce.

But instead of delivering step-by-step instructions, the AI quickly got confused, jumping between out-of-sequence directions.

At one point, the assistant bizarrely insisted:

“You’ve already combined the base ingredients, so now grate the pear.”

Mancuso repeatedly tried to redirect the AI, but the assistant continued misfiring. He ultimately blamed the issue on a “messed up Wi-Fi” before handing the video feed back to Zuckerberg, who echoed the excuse.

🎤 Zuckerberg Responds

Trying to lighten the mood, Zuckerberg admitted the irony of the situation:

“The irony of all this whole thing is that you spend years making technology and then the Wi-Fi on the day kinda… catches you. We’ll go check out what he made later.”

The comment drew laughter from the audience, but it underscored the fragility of live tech demos — particularly for products positioned as Meta’s next big bet in augmented reality wearables.

👓 The Stakes for Meta

The Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses represent the company’s latest attempt to integrate AI assistants, gesture control, and AR features into everyday eyewear. While the Wi-Fi glitch may have derailed the live showcase, Meta is betting big on the glasses as part of its broader push into mixed reality — an area where rivals like Apple’s Vision Pro and Google’s Gemini integrations are quickly gaining ground.

For now, the company will need to ensure that future demos don’t let Wi-Fi overshadow years of development.