Meta Acquires Limitless, a Wearable A.I. Pendant Company Backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, has been making waves in the tech industry with his latest move: acquiring Limitless, a company that produces a wearable A.I. pendant that records, transcribes, and provides feedback on conversations. The deal, announced on December 5, marks a significant expansion of Meta’s presence in the wearables market, which has been a key area of focus for the company in recent months. As seen in the photo, Mark Zuckerberg attends the WSJ. Magazine 2025 Innovator Awards at MoMA on Oct. 29, 2025, in New York City. The photo was taken by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine Innovators Awards.
Limitless, founded in 2020, has gained recognition for its $99 pendant that utilizes A.I. to listen to users’ everyday conversations and provide personalized insights. The company has raised over $33 million from prominent backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. According to Dan Siroker, CEO of Limitless, the acquisition will support Meta’s growing focus on A.I.-enabled wearables, which has been elevated through an internal restructuring. In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Siroker stated, “We’re no longer working on a weird fringe idea. We’re building a future that now seems inevitable.”
Meta’s Wearables Strategy
Meta has been developing a range of wearables with EssilorLuxottica, the company behind Ray-Ban and Oakley. In July, Zuckerberg claimed that those without A.I.-integrated glasses will face a “significant cognitive disadvantage” in the future. The company’s smart glasses efforts fall under its Reality Labs division, which recently added a new executive, Alan Dye, the former head of Apple’s user interface design team. Dye will reportedly oversee design across Meta’s A.I.-integrated devices. During Meta’s most recent earnings call in October, Zuckerberg stated, “Our general view is that we want to build these out to reach many hundreds of millions or billions of people. That’s the point at which we think that this is going to just be an extremely profitable business.”
Meta’s acquisition of Limitless is not an isolated incident in the tech industry. Earlier this year, Amazon purchased Bee, the startup behind a $50 A.I.-integrated bracelet that transcribes a user’s daily activities and provides summaries. Google parent Alphabet has also partnered with Warby Parker to develop A.I.-integrated glasses, while China’s Alibaba is pursuing smart glasses. According to a report by Statista, the global wearables market is projected to reach $62.3 billion by 2025, with smart glasses being a significant contributor to this growth.
Consumer Reactions and the Future of A.I. Hardware
Consumer reactions to these products have been mixed. Friend, a startup creating A.I. pendants similar to Limitless’s device, drew backlash this summer after a city-wide New York subway campaign promoted its product as a replacement for real-life companionship. However, OpenAI, which is collaborating with famed Apple designer Jony Ive on a mysterious wearables project, promises to deliver “peace and calm” amid the chaos of notifications, scrolling, and screens. The project is expected to debut within the next two years. As the wearables market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how consumers respond to these new technologies and how they will shape the future of human interaction.
Image Source: observer.com
