Snap gets closer to releasing new AI glasses after years-long hiatus keeps showing up in conversations for a reason. The story below covers what is actually happening, where the trade-offs sit, and what a careful reader should take from it.
Snap has announced a new partnership between its AR-glasses focused subsidiary, Specs, and chipmaker Qualcomm, as the company revs up for the release of its wearable later this year.
The Snapchat creator has been teasing the release of the glasses—dubbed Spectacles, or merely Specs—for a long time and, earlier this year, it spun off a new company to specifically focus on the business venture. In February, the company abruptly parted ways with Scott Myers, its SVP of Specs, over a reported “blow-up” between himself and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel.
The newly announced partnership with Qualcomm shows signs of life for the project. Specs will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR platforms, which are its systems-on-a-chip designed to power augmented and virtual reality devices, a press release states.
The two companies will develop “on-device AI, cutting-edge graphics, and advanced multiuser digital experiences” as part of a multi-year strategic agreement, a press release claims.
“Our work with Qualcomm provides a strong foundation for the future of Specs, bringing developers and consumers advanced technology and performance that pushes the boundaries of what’s possible,” Spiegel said.
The saga of Specs has been a long one. Snap originally began developing the product over a decade ago. The last consumer-facing version of the glasses was released in 2019. Since 2024, the glasses have been a developer-only product—giving Snap the opportunity to work on seeding new kinds of programs that the company hopes will draw users to it upon launch.
