Meta Glasses Demo Fail at Connect 2025: Not Wi-Fi, Says CTO

At this year’s Meta Connect 2025, the spotlight was on Meta’s newest smart glasses lineup:

• An upgraded Ray-Ban Meta,

• The Meta Ray-Ban Display with a wristband controller, and

• The sporty Oakley Meta Vanguard.

But instead of smooth demos, the launch event ended up making headlines for all the wrong reasons: multiple live stage failures.

What Went Wrong on Stage

Two major glitches stood out during the keynote:

1. The Cooking Demo Fail
   Chef and creator Jack Mancuso asked his Ray-Ban Meta glasses how to start a recipe. Instead of responding with the first step, the AI got stuck, skipped ahead, and left Mancuso stranded on stage. He blamed the Wi-Fi, tossing the demo back to Mark Zuckerberg.

2. The WhatsApp Video Call Fail
   Later, a live WhatsApp call between Zuckerberg and Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth also failed. The glasses didn’t pick up the call, forcing Zuck to give up while Bosworth joked about the “brutal” Wi-Fi.

Bosworth’s Technical Explanation

After the event, Andrew Bosworth took to Instagram Q&A to clarify what actually happened — and it wasn’t Wi-Fi.

• The AI Overload (Self-DDoS):
  When the chef said, “Hey Meta, start Live AI,” the command didn’t just trigger his pair of glasses. It accidentally activated Live AI on every single Ray-Ban Meta in the building. With hundreds of glasses pinging the system at once, Meta’s dev server got overloaded. Bosworth admitted: “So we DDoS’d ourselves, basically.”

• The Race Condition Bug:
  The failed WhatsApp call was due to a race condition bug. The glasses’ display went to sleep exactly when the call came in. By the time Zuckerberg woke it up, the notification was gone. This was a first-time glitch, which Meta says is already fixed.

Demo Failure ≠ Product Failure

Bosworth stressed that these glitches don’t mean the glasses are broken products. Instead, they highlight the unpredictability of live demos.

“Obviously, I don’t love it, but I know the product works. I know it has the goods. So it really was just a demo fail and not a product failure,” Bosworth said.

The Bigger Picture

While the failed demos were embarrassing in front of a global audience, the technology itself is still promising. With Ray-Ban styling, a new display model, and even sports-focused Oakley editions, Meta is doubling down on its bet that AI-powered glasses can be the next smartphone replacement.

The real test, however, will be when customers get their hands on them — not what happens under the pressure of stage lights.

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Fact-check sources: TechCrunch, The Week, LiveMint, Times of India