Owners of Meta’s AI glasses have been told they must pay a monthly fee if they want full access to a feature that was previously free.<\/p>\n
Users will have to shell out $19.99 every month to use “Conversation Focus”, which uses the microphones on the glasses to make it easier to hear people you’re talking to, for more than three hours a month.<\/p>\n
Meta says those who hit the “free monthly usage limit” will have to wait for their free hours to refresh each calendar month unless they subscribe.<\/p>\n
The social media giant declined to provide a statement, but a spokesperson said the move formed part of its experiments with offering subscriptions for some features while keeping core services free.<\/p>\n
Meta’s plans to test “premium” subscription experiments across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp were first revealed in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n The firm later confirmed, external<\/a> its tests would include trialling paid access to expanded AI features, including those on its smart glasses.<\/p>\n A Meta spokesperson told the BBC on Thursday users of its glasses would still have access to other built-in AI features, such as live translation and its voice assistant, without needing a subscription.<\/p>\n “All AI glasses owners get free monthly usage for certain features,” it says on a help page, external<\/a>.<\/p>\n The company says subscribers to its Meta One Premium tier will be able to use Conversation Focus for up to 15 hours each month.<\/p>\n Meta One subscriptions are only available in some countries – not including the UK.<\/p>\n “Putting Conversation Focus behind a paywall feels wrong,” said one user who wrote, external<\/a> to Meta Ray-Ban product lead David Woodland.<\/p>\n “I would gladly subscribe to Meta One, but only if it genuinely offers unlimited access.”<\/p>\n