EssilorLuxottica announced on Tuesday that it has reached a 10-year agreement to continue its partnership with Meta Platforms. This long-term deal will allow them to keep developing smart eyewear.
“The incredible work we’ve done with Meta, still in its early stages, has already proven to be an important milestone in our journey to making glasses the gateway to the connected world,” Francesco Milleri, CEO of EssilorLuxottica.
There was no mention of Meta potentially purchasing stock in the eyeglasses manufacturer in the press announcement. The head of EssilorLuxottica indicated in July that he had received word from the IT giant that it might make an investment in the business.
The Wall Street Journal previously revealed that discussions between the two businesses centered on Meta acquiring a 5% share in the Franco-Italian conglomerate.
Since 2019, EssilorLuxottica and Meta have worked together to develop two iterations of smart glasses bearing the Ray-Ban trademark.
The initial smart glasses struggled to gain traction with consumers. However, the latest version, released in late 2023, has already sold more units in just a few months than its predecessor did in two years.
Customers may use the smart glasses from Ray-Ban Meta to snap pictures, listen to music, and make phone calls by just pushing a button located on top of the right temple of the glasses. In May, a multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) feature was also made available to users in the United States and Canada alone.
“I’m proud of the work we’ve done with EssilorLuxottica so far, and I’m excited about our long-term roadmap ahead. We have the opportunity to turn glasses into the next major technology platform, and make it fashionable in the process,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
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