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Last month, Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s Meta became embroiled in a major controversy<\/a> after Wired found<\/a> that it had discreetly included facial recognition tech in the software of its lineup of popular smart glasses.<\/p>\n The camera-equipped spectacles had already become a privacy lightning rod, with users secretly recording strangers<\/a>, often without their consent \u2014 earning the spectacles the pejorative nickname of \u201cpervert glasses<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, in addition to their already steep price, Meta\u2019s AI-enabled glasses will become even more expensive, thanks to a $19.99 a month subscription that will \u201crate limit\u201d their sought-after AI features, as The Verge reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meta is launching a new Meta One Premium subscription that will be required for anybody trying to get the most out of their pricy eyewear. While the company insists<\/a> that owners technically don\u2019t have to shell out $20 a month, even premium subscribers will be locked out after using 15 hours of \u201cConversation Focus,\u201d a feature that amplifies the voices of people you\u2019re talking to, per month. Without a subscription, owners are restricted to just three hours of the feature a month.<\/p>\n At a glance, you might think the development yet again highlights how quickly access to AI compute has shot up in price, in soaring costs that tech giants are starting to pass along to their customers<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, as The Verge points out, Conversation Focus doesn\u2019t require any internet connection to function, meaning that it doesn\u2019t actually have to connect to a remote server to process data.<\/p>\n In other words, Meta appears to be squeezing money out of power users by arbitrarily charging them more for a device they already bought.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes Meta have some secret licensing deal with another company that costs it money every time a person uses Conversation Focus?\u201d The Verge\u2018s Sean Hollister asked rhetorically. \u201cFailing that, the rate limit sounds utterly bogus.\u201d<\/p>\n Zooming out, Meta\u2019s AI efforts have run into major roadblocks, from rock-bottom morale among employees<\/a> to chaotic management<\/a>. <\/p>\n By making its smart glasses \u2014 which, despite all of the controversy, have been selling in the millions<\/a> \u2014 even more expensive for power users, the company could be hamstringing its one successful AI project.<\/p>\n