Technologies

XR Is Going Mainstream. Does That Mean We’ll All Be Glasses Wearers Now?

«The time is now» for XR, says Google’s Rick Osterloh. Are you ready to buy in?

I’m standing in the lobby of a hotel in Hawaii, gazing into the glaring sun through the lens of Snap AR Spectacles and wondering if this is my future.

The glasses are an updated version of the ones I tried out last year at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii. Rather than playing with Moo Deng — a fun little novelty — I’m using them for things I do every day on my phone: Browsing the internet and scrolling through social videos.

Right here is evidence of Snap bringing productivity and genuinely useful features to its glasses, which are still a clunky developer version for now, before it eventually turns Spectacles into a bona fide consumer device. Like my colleague Scott Stein, who tried the Spectacles out several weeks ago, I’m most impressed with the AI-powered live translation feature. It allows me to see my conversation partner’s words translated into French subtitles in real time just below her face, making it easy for us to converse naturally without breaking eye contact.

To me, the progression is clear: The Spectacles seem to be growing up, taking themselves more seriously and finding their true purpose. This is part of a wider trend of XR devices (mixed reality), which feel as though they’re on the cusp of having a major mainstream breakthrough.

Trace the idea of XR back to its earliest days, and you will find clunky virtual reality headsets that were groundbreaking in their time and showed us a vision of wearable screens that ultimately didn’t lead to mainstream adoption. Even Apple’s much-hyped mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, has struggled to establish broad appeal beyond the pros and rich bros.

But many people in tech think we’re about to hit a watershed moment for XR.

«The time [for XR] is now,» said Rick Osterloh, SVP of devices and services at Google, speaking at the Snapdragon Summit. «The technology’s ready and a bunch of products are going to really change the user experience.»

Google has been working on XR products for a long time, said Osterloh, but the combination of underlying silicon, such as Qualcomm’s chips, and AI breakthroughs means the tech «is now ready to be able to create a new, brand new computing experience that’s really powerful.»

The concept of a breakthrough moment for XR doesn’t appear to be just wishful thinking either. Sales volumes of Meta’s Rayban glasses, also powered by Qualcomm, have increased more than 12x from the end of last year to now, Alex Katouzian, Qualcomm’s group general manager for mobile, compute and XR told me.

«It’s like massive amounts… the traction on it is really good,» he said. «And then the China customers are coming out with glasses, after glasses, after glasses. Xiaomi is doing a really good job.»

AI supercharging XR

Other than Snapdragon chips, there’s one technology that seems to be igniting the XR product category. «AI is breathing life into it,» said Katouzian.

As I discovered in my Snap Spectacles demo, AI can elevate an XR experience to make it feel truly immersive and seamless. The combination of sensors that could pick up my conversation partner’s speech and visualize where she was standing, along with the AI that could translate her speech, made me understand, perhaps for the first time in all my years of demoing this technology, why I might choose to wear smart glasses even though I’m not a glasses wearer.

Live translation has almost become a litmus test for consumer AI applications over the past year, including earlier this month, as Apple launched the AirPods Pro 3. It tackles an obvious communication challenge and is practical enough that people can easily take advantage of, said Dino Bekis, Qualcomm’s VP of wearables, in an interview.

XR and glasses, in particular, feel like a natural lens through which people can interact with AI, said Bekis. «It’s the same way we interface with the world,» he said. «It sees what you see. It can hear what you hear.»

For Bekis, XR’s breakthrough moment is due to a combination of factors — the quality of AI agent capability, connectivity and the ability to make very small power-sensitive devices.

«We’re just now getting to a point where embedded displays and all these things are starting to happen in a way that actually can translate into real, meaningful, personal devices,» he said. «It’s the beginning.»

But what if you’re like me: Hesitant about wearing glasses for comfort reasons? Bekis told me that we’re actually similar in this respect. It might feel unnatural for some people, he acknowledged, in which case they might opt out but choose to have other wearables instead that can still provide crucial sensor data that can contribute to an immersive AI experience.

People should choose the form factors that feel natural to them, he added. From there, it’s the job of the tech companies to make everything work together, regardless of which choices people make.

«It’s not just really about the glasses as much as [it’s] also about this collection of devices that you’re carrying around on your person on a regular basis — the ability for these different devices to interact, share some of this sensory information and then be able to then pull that together in an interesting way for you to digest,» he said.

The jury’s still out for me on whether I’d be willing to embrace XR by adopting glasses as so many people around the world seem to be doing. But in the meantime, I like the idea that XR could be something I dabble in for specific experiences, while I let my watch, my earbuds, my phone and whatever other wearable devices might emerge in the near future do the heavy lifting.

Technologies

Meta and AMD’s Multibillion-Dollar Deal Is All About the AI Chips

Meta will take a stake in the chipmaker in exchange for a commitment to buy billions of dollars’ worth of AI chips.

Meta is joining OpenAI as one of the major tech companies to take a stake in chipmaker AMD, as part of an AI hardware buying frenzy. Meta and AMD on Tuesday announced a partnership that will involve CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s tech giant buying billions of dollars’ worth of AMD Instinct GPUs in order to fuel its ambitions to build out AI offerings across Meta platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.

In a release, Meta described the deal as «multi-year,» and said the AI purchase will provide Meta with up to 6 gigawatts of AMD GPUs, «the silicon computing technology used to support modern AI models.»

According to the US Department of Energy, a single gigawatt (1 billion watts) is equivalent to nearly 2,000 large solar panels or 100 million LED bulbs.

In AMD’s version of the announcement, CEO Lisa Su said, «We are proud to expand our strategic partnership with Meta as they push the boundaries of AI at unprecedented scale.» As part of the deal, Meta will take a 10% stake in AMD.

AMD, based in Santa Clara, California, previously signed a deal with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI that it announced last October, which is similar to the Meta deal and also gives its AI rival 10% ownership of AMD.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

What does this mean for the rest of us?

AMD’s two megadeals may not have an immediate impact on people who use Meta’s social networking and communications apps, or even on those who buy AMD’s products, including desktop processors and graphics cards.

But it signals that large companies making huge bets on the future of AI are doing what they can to secure the hardware they need as supplies tighten and prices rise for components such as RAM. Some of those constraints aren’t expected to end anytime soon, and shoppers could begin to see prices rise even more than they already have for computers, smartphones, vehicles and other products that heavily rely on computing components like these.

It is also a sign that Meta’s ambitions for AI are not slowing down as it continues to compete with companies including OpenAI, Microsoft and Google to develop AI products and tools.

Also a factor: Meta’s push into wearables

Another reason AMD may want access to AI chips goes beyond its own data centers and online platforms: Meta has increasingly been focused on wearables such as its Oakley Meta AI Glasses and other potential new portable products.

In addition to what AMD’s GPUs can offer Meta for AI infrastructure power, AMD may also be part of its wearable future.

«With AI models requiring unprecedented processing power to process real-time data and information, Meta is focused on securing the supply chain necessary for its wearable devices,» said Michael J. Wolf, founder and CEO of the consulting firm Activate.

Wolf believes that the deals Meta and OpenAI have signed won’t be the last time a major AI-focused company locks down a supply of semiconductors.

«As consumer hardware transitions from smartphones to smart glasses, we will absolutely see more of these mega-deals,» Wolf said.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 25, #520

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 25, No. 520.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition features a mix of difficulties. The green one is kind of fun today. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Whack it!

Green group hint: Halloween colors.

Blue group hint: The airport is YUL.

Purple group hint: It’s also a hat.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: To hit a baseball hard.

Green group: Orange and black teams.

Blue group: Associated with Montreal.

Purple group: ____ derby.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is to hit a baseball hard. The four answers are belt, blister, hammer and tattoo.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is orange and black teams. The four answers are Bengals, Flyers, Giants and Oklahoma State.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Montreal. The four answers are 1976 Olympics, Canadiens, Expos and Youppi!

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ derby. The four answers are home run, Kentucky, Merseyside and roller.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Feb. 25

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 25.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

I thought today’s Mini Crossword was a tough one! Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.