The next wave of tech units could not have a display. You may not understand that they’re recording you. And you may not even understand they’re tech devices in any respect.
Qualcomm, whose chips energy smartphones from main Android system makers, launched a brand new chip Monday for brand new merchandise alongside these traces. The firm says it’s seeing rising curiosity from tech firms in units that seem like pendants, pins, glasses and different discrete gadgets worn on the physique.
Tech firms are racing to foretell whether or not AI’s reputation will lead to a brand new hit product, just like how the web laid the basis for the smartphone. Qualcomm’s chips energy hundreds of thousands of units from firms like Samsung, Motorola, Meta and plenty of others, so its new dedication might be a form of bellwether for the client tech world.
But tech firms must show that new units can do issues higher or in another way than smartphones and alleviate privateness issues round units can surreptitiously document their environment.
Ziad Asghar, who leads Qualcomm’s wearables and private AI units division, stated Qualcomm noticed the want for a brand new chip after firms approached them with new gadget ideas.
The early success of sensible glasses was one other indication for Qualcomm, in response to Asghar. Global shipments of sensible glasses grew 139% in comparison with final yr in the second half of 2025, in response to Counterpoint Research.
“We have seen the demand (for smart glasses) go way beyond what we had predicted in (2025), and that has given us a lot more confidence,” Asghar stated.
The new chip, known as the Snapdragon Wear Elite, was designed with new merchandise like pins and pendants in thoughts however may even energy smartwatches. Qualcomm stated the chip is made for issues like operating AI fashions and dealing with different close by units with out draining a battery, even in units which might be often recording and speaking with telephones and different units. Google, Motorola and Samsung are amongst the firms that can use the chip.
But tech giants face an uphill battle in convincing customers to embrace new units. At least one firm has already realized this the laborious method. Humane, a tech startup based by former Apple executives, bought components of its enterprise to HP after its AI Pin didn’t catch on with customers.
But Asghar says wearable devices can probably deal with some duties extra effectively than a cellphone, like prompt translations throughout a dialog.
Smart glasses, earbuds and new potential units can present translations in your line of sight and your ear so that you simply don’t must look down at a cellphone display. Asghar additionally stated he has seen curiosity from the retail trade in utilizing AI units with cameras to trace the place consumers are wanting.
Plus, units worn on the physique as an alternative of being tucked away in a pocket might be able to perceive context from one’s environment by cameras, microphones and different sensors, offering extra data to tailor solutions.
“It gives you an ability that basically you did not have before the device,” Asghar stated.
Meta, Google and Samsung are all betting big on sensible glasses that use AI to research and reply questions on a wearer’s environment. Amazon says Bee, the voice-recording bracelet it acquired final yr, is vital to Alexa’s future.
Apple is additionally growing sensible glasses and a pendant, in response to Bloomberg. OpenAI is anticipated to launch its first {hardware} product — a sensible speaker — next yr in response to The Information. And startups like the Friend AI pendant and Plaud pin have already been making waves.
Google hasn’t introduced plans to increase past its glasses, watches, telephones and earbuds. But Bjørn Kilburn, vice chairman and basic supervisor of Google’s smartwatch software program, stated the firm is being attentive to these new sorts of units.
“At the end of the day, it’ll come down to, ‘Is it a superior product for the user? Does it do something that existing things couldn’t do?’ And so, if something like that emerges, then we’d be silly not to take a look at it,” Kilburn advised NCS.
Such units additionally imply will probably be simpler than ever to be recorded with out one’s information or consent. Most units, like Meta’s sensible glasses and the Amazon Bee bracelet, have an LED gentle that prompts to let bystanders know it’s recording. Still, some women have reported that males used sensible glasses to document them with out their information and submit the movies on social media. Meta, presently the main sensible glasses firm, talked about the glasses’ LED indicator gentle in a earlier assertion to NCS and stated individuals ought to use the product “in a safe, respectful manner.”
Google’s sensible glasses haven’t launched but. But the firm little question remembers the fallout from Google Glass, the discontinued, first-of-its-kind sensible glasses that sparked a wave of privateness fears in 2013.
Kilburn stated Google has a “huge responsibility” to guard person privateness and that the firm takes it very critically.
“So that does mean that sometimes we go slower on some things, because we need to be deliberate and think through all of the different positive and potentially unfortunately negative use cases,” he stated.