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Qualcomm’s New AR Chips Point to a New Generation of Smart Glasses

The less power-hungry chips support Wi-Fi 7 and eye tracking. They’re expected to arrive in glasses between 2023 and 2025.

Amid a recent uptick in VR headsets, Qualcomm’s latest chip announcement hints that the next product wave could be AR glasses. At the company’s recent chip-focused event, the newest Snapdragon phone processors were announced, along with a brand-new line of AR glasses-optimized chips that point to a next wave of advanced smartglasses expected to arrive between 2023 and 2025, with possible features including eye tracking, hand tracking and wireless streaming to phones or from the cloud.

The Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 is a different type of platform than the company’s top-end XR2 processor, which is already in standalone VR headsets like the Meta Quest 2 and Pico 4. The AR2 focuses more on camera and sensor-based processing than on graphics, aiming to improve battery life on smaller glasses. The design is split into three co-processors, which are meant to live in each arm of a pair of smartglasses and also above the bridge. It’s meant to cut down on wires and reduce overheating on future glasses designs.

Glasses using the AR2 Gen 1 may be a lot faster at using cameras for scanning and depth sensing: Qualcomm is promising faster AI for things like object recognition and hand tracking than even the XR2 chip found on headsets such as the Quest 2, but using half as much power as the XR2 chip. There’s nowhere to hide a big battery on a normal-ish pair of glasses, which is why the AR2 Gen 1 aims to be efficient in ways that are reminiscent of the needs of wearables like smartwatches.

The AR2 Gen 1 chip won’t be used for traditional VR headsets. According to Qualcomm, the resolution and field of view in AR glasses using these new chips won’t be as good as what current VR is capable of. Existing AR glasses and headsets tend to have smaller viewing areas and rely on occasional pop-up graphics, versus the expansive full-field graphics and displays VR needs.

Qualcomm is leaning heavily on phones, computers and the cloud to do a lot of the heavy lifting for these future glasses. The chipset includes Wi-Fi 7, and a range of phones running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips and the Snapdragon Spaces software platform could be used to wirelessly process AR graphics for these glasses. Essentially they’re wearable peripherals, although the glasses could do some things on their own, too.

Eye tracking on the glasses comes with support for iris authentication, which is handled on-glasses with a dedicated security chip. How that gets used by other manufacturers, however, remains to be seen.

Qualcomm’s already announced a wave of familiar tech names that are onboard to make AR glasses with the AR2 chip, including Lenovo, LG, Niantic, NReal, Oppo, Pico, NTT Qonoq, Rokid, Sharp, TCL, Vuzix and Mi. Microsoft and Adobe are also working on making their software platforms cross-compatible, which mirrors recent partnership news with Meta earlier this year.

Partnerships are necessary, especially for devices like smart glasses that are trying to be useful tools in a world of already well-connected phones, computers, wearables and smart home gear. Microsoft has already announced a partnership with Qualcomm on future AR glasses chips earlier this year, and the AR2 Gen 1 looks like it’ll be a part of that evolution beyond the expensive, business-focused HoloLens 2.

Qualcomm previously worked on chips for existing AR headsets and smart glasses, including the NReal Light, Lenovo’s ThinkReality A3 and Meta’s Ray-Ban Stories. However, Qualcomm’s head of XR, Hugo Swart, indicated in a briefing with reporters that current efforts haven’t been good enough at running long enough on a single battery charge to be useful. (Battery life on nearly all existing VR and AR headsets tends to be under 2 hours at best.)

Dreams of the metaverse are, for the moment, held back equally by hardware and software. While VR headsets are slowly adding AR-like features using passthrough cameras, like in the Meta Quest Pro, there aren’t any all-day AR glasses that are actually any good, although some headsets like the Magic Leap 2 are trying to get closer to being useful for practical business uses. Perhaps Meta, which has been promising its own AR glasses for years, will lean on the AR2 Gen 1 as well for a future product.

There’s nothing available yet that resembles the eyeglass tech sci-fi writers have been dreaming of for decades. Qualcomm’s new chips may not lead to perfect AR glasses, but these chips may lead to improved, wireless glasses of the type that haven’t existed previously. Maybe this wave of AR2 Gen 1-enabled glasses could be the start of the true AR eyewear we’ve been waiting for.

Technologies

Passengers and crew foil co-pilot’s apparent attempt to crash FlyDubai flight to Israel

One of the pilots on a FlyDubai flight headed for Israel stabbed the second pilot, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On-duty flight crew and passengers managed to foil a pilot’s apparent attempt to crash a FlyDubai flight, after reports emerged of a fight in the cockpit.

The incident on flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv happened when a co-pilot stabbed a pilot, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who praised the victim’s quick thinking.

“Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster. He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals,” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X.

FZ1073 was diverted to the Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia, the airline said, after being successfully secured and diverted by flight crew.

FlyDubai in a statement said that an “altercation” occurred on the flight deck of the plane, but did not mention a stabbing.

However, the airline added that the underlying reasons and motives for the clash is currently unknown, urging all parties to refrain from speculation.

The injured pilot was identified by Netanyahu as Indian national Smit Machchhar. No details have been released on the identity of the attacker, except that he was being interrogated by Saudi authorities.

The Indian embassy in Riyadh said on X that Machchhar is in a hospital in Tabuk, and is reported to be in stable condition.

The Israeli Prime Minister also identified the passenger who broke into the cockpit as Yaniv Hayun, calling him a “hero” and adding he deserved “a global medal of honor.”

Flight data from tracking site FlightRadar24 showed that the plane had experienced extreme altitude fluctuations before broadcasting a “general emergency” squawk code.

FZ1073 had dropped from over 14,000 feet in just 29 seconds, and FlightRadar24 also added that vertical speeds ranging from approximately -30,000 to +10,000 feet per minute were observed from the transponder data.

For context, vertical speeds during normal operations rarely exceed plus or minus 4,000 feet per minute, it added.

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Technologies

South Korean President Lee resists Alaska LNG project after Trump highlights Seoul’s involvement

South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung has conditioned his country’s participation in the Alaska LNG project on financial viability and legal compliance, pushing back against President Trump’s push for the $50‑billion venture while other $200‑billion U.S. investments move forward.

South Korea’s $200 billion investment in the United States, which President Donald Trump said would transform America “for generations,” is not yet finalized in full.

The South Korean investment blueprint includes nuclear power plants, a natural‑gas power facility in Texas, and potentially the long‑planned Alaska liquefied natural gas project.

Trump posted on Truth Social late Wednesday that the two nations had agreed to move forward on the Alaska LNG venture, estimating its value at $50 billion. This prompted a response from South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung, who stressed that participation in some projects remains tied to commercial considerations.

In an X post Thursday local time, Lee said that involvement in the Alaska LNG project hinges on its financial viability and legal compliance. He added that investments in nuclear power plants would also require a plant‑by‑plant assessment of commercial feasibility.

The US‑South Korea joint statement Wednesday also noted that work on the project is contingent on “commercial reasonableness,” without detailing allocations toward the venture.

The Alaska LNG project aims to move natural gas roughly 1,300 km (800 miles) from fields on Alaska’s North Slope to the state’s southern region, where it would be liquefied for export to markets including Asia, according to Yonhap. The initiative has long faced scrutiny over its economics, given the substantial upfront capital required.

Industry Minister Kim Jung‑kwan labeled it “high‑risk” last year and said participation would be challenging unless the project could generate sufficient cash flow.

Overall, the investment package allocates $22.3 billion for a 6,472‑megawatt natural‑gas power plant in Encinal, Texas, which will supply electricity to nearby data centers. The venture will be led by developer Related Cos. and U.S. power provider NextEra Energy.

Trump said the investments would turn South Korea’s commitments into “huge construction projects” and create “tens of thousands of American jobs.”

“These are massive energy projects, adding power capacity in the United States,” Trump remarked. “This is new construction, new manufacturing, and great jobs for American workers.”

The two countries said they would seek to broaden Korean firms’ involvement in the Texas project across equipment supply, engineering, construction, and long‑term operations and maintenance. The U.S. also plans to give Korean companies opportunities to supply equipment, including turbines, for similar projects domestically.

Another $120 billion has been earmarked for plans to build eight large‑scale nuclear reactors in the United States. Of that sum, $100 billion is designated for construction costs and $20 billion for contingency reserves.

The nuclear accord was signed by both governments as well as Westinghouse Electric, Korea Electric Power Corp., and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. The plan also calls for Korean firms to pursue a potential significant minority stake in Westinghouse, with terms subject to commercial negotiations.

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Technologies

Washington’s big crypto bill is stuck. The SEC is pushing ahead anyway

The SEC has proposed new rules that would make it easier for investment advisers and regulated funds to hold cryptocurrencies on behalf of clients.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules that would make it easier for investment advisers and regulated funds to hold cryptocurrencies on behalf of clients, as U.S. regulators push ahead with writing crypto rules after a sweeping legislation stalled in Congress.

The proposal, announced Thursday stateside, would establish a tailored framework governing how registered investment advisers, investment companies and business development companies hold custody of crypto assets.

The changes are aimed at modernizing decades-old custody requirements and removing regulatory barriers that the SEC says have limited advisers’ ability to offer crypto-related investments.

Under the proposed rules, crypto assets could be held in self-custody under “certain circumstances,” while state trust companies could also serve as custodians for crypto assets belonging to clients and regulated funds.

The changes could also give regulated funds greater scope to offer investors crypto-related investment strategies, according to the SEC.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said existing regulations had failed to keep pace with the rapid expansion of digital assets, which have grown into a multi-trillion-dollar market.

“Today’s proposal would provide a clear regulatory framework for the custody of crypto assets, giving investment advisers and funds a compliant pathway where none existed before,” Atkins said.

The proposal comes as U.S. regulators push ahead with building out a crypto rulebook under their existing authority after the Clarity Act, a sweeping crypto market structure bill, stalled in the Senate in September.

That marks another step in the SEC’s broader effort to rewrite the U.S. regulatory framework for digital assets under Atkins, and will be open for public comment for 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register.

With broader crypto legislation stalling in Congress, regulators are exerting their existing powers to address individual parts of the market, said Jeff Ko, chief analyst at blockchain infrastructure service provider ViaBTC.

“What we’re increasingly seeing is the SEC using the authority it already has to solve individual bottlenecks one by one, issuance, tokenization, trading exemptions and now custody,” he told CNBC via email.

The regulatory push also comes as crypto markets show signs of renewed momentum following a volatile start to the year. Bitcoin has rebounded over 40% from its July low, as improving risk appetite have helped revive demand for digital assets.

The recovery follows a prolonged downturn from late 2025 into the first half of 2026.

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