Meta's AI Glasses, FTC's Chatbot Probe, Perplexity's $20B Valuation, Cognition's $10B Valuation, & OpenAI's UK Hub

Meta's new glasses have display and neural band, FTC probing AI chatbots impact on children, Perplexity raised $200M, Cognition raises $400M, and OpenAI launches Stargate UK

Meta Shows AI Smart Glasses with Display and Neural Wristband

Meta debuted next-gen smart glasses at Connect, packing a micro-OLED display and neural wristband for gesture-free control via EMG sensors detecting micro-movements.

Priced at only $799, this is Meta's boldest metaverse swing yet, changing their Ray-Bans into always-on augmented reality devices with real-time AI overlays like navigation or translations.

Calling the $799 price “shockingly low” is an understatement, because it also includes the Neural Band, a bracelet that detects electrical impulses. This lets you navigate the UI without holding your hands or using a controller. Here’s how it works.

For comparison, HTC just released smart glasses with no display screen or neural interface for $520. Meta is blowing the doors off of them by providing this much value for just $279 more.

Their presentation wasn’t perfect, as there were two demo fails. One is below, where CEO Mark Zuckerberg couldn’t answer several calls from CTO Andrew Bosworth.

And while demo fails are embarrassing, I’ve been there, and it also shows how much more compelling live demoes are. Things happen, and that uncertainty makes them compelling!

It reminded me of Steve Jobs’ demo failing due to all the WiFi & MiFi devices being used by the audience.

Contrast that to Apple’s conferences now, which are all pre-recorded. There’s no risk of their demos failing, but that lack of risk could be why interest in their conferences have tapered off.

FTC Launches Formal Inquiry into AI Chatbots and Their Impact on Children

The FTC kicked off a sweeping inquiry into AI chatbots, sending letters to: Google, Meta, Snap, Character.ai, OpenAI and xAI.

They’re probing how chatbots affect kids and teens under its 6(b) authority for broad market studies. This probe demands details on monitoring, testing, and harm mitigation, spotlighting AI's uncharted psychological risks amid rising "emotional bonds" with bots.

Beyond content filters, the FTC eyes deeper harms like addiction or social isolation, with early data showing 70% of teens using AI daily for companionship.

OpenAI, Google, and Meta each have over 1 billion users, and are likely facing the brunt of this probe. But they also have the resources for any compliance costs that are mandated as a result.

The real question is whether new startups will be held to the same standard. If so, that could help entrench the dominant players.

On top of that, notice how global rivals like Baidu and DeepSeek were not sent letters for this probe. Will they be held to the same standard?

All of these points, and more, will hopefully be considerations during the FTC’s probe.

Perplexity AI Valued at $20 Billion with New Funding

Perplexity AI raised another $200 million, raising their valuation to $20 Billion.

This round was likely dilutive, as their prior valuation was $18 Billion, which is understandable with annual revenue approaching $200 million. Keep this 100x sales valuation in mind for Cognition next.

The round, blending new and repeat backers, underscores VC fervor for AI search disruptors challenging Google's 90% market grip with concise, cited answers over link dumps.

The question is whether Perplexity's 10M+ monthly users can scale to Google's billions.

Google has a $2 trillion valuation, with most of their cash still coming from search. Can Perplexity seize some of that market share? Even if they capture some, they could be a compelling acquisition target at the least.

Cognition AI Secures $400M at a $10B Valuation for Devin

Cognition AI closed a $400 million round led by Founders Fund, hitting $10.2 billion valuation for its Devin "AI software engineer" that autonomously codes and debugs.

We have covered Cognition since Devin’s launch in 2024, which is now valued at 100x projected revenue, like Perplexity earlier. The raise will help fund team growth and compute scaling.

This haul validates agentic AI's promise, autonomous task execution, after Devin showed how well they can resolve issues compared to their competitors.

Devin's edge over Cursor or GitHub Copilot lies in end-to-end agency: it plans, codes, tests, and iterates without hand-holding, targeting a $500B dev tools market.

But the question is when Cognition’s ARR can really take off. Cursor crossed $500 million ARR in June, nearly 5x Cognition. Time will tell how quickly Cognition can catch up after raising this new round.

OpenAI to Launch “Stargate UK” to Compete with DeepMind

OpenAI announced plans to establish Stargate UK, its first international R&D center in London, targeting advanced AI research and hardware innovation. This expansion directly challenges Google DeepMind, which was founded and still based in London.

This is part of a broader £150 billion pledge for US investment in the UK, and helps OpenAI gain a European foothold.

This move escalates a talent war that's seen key researchers shuttle between the labs, and positions OpenAI as a global contender beyond its U.S. roots.

And by forging ties with local universities Oxford and Cambridge, they can directly hire more AI talent, which has become incredibly competitive.