Meta’s failed smart glasses demos had nothing to do with the Wi-Fi

Meta’s failed smart glasses demos had nothing to do with the Wi-Fi — despite what Mark Zuckerberg suggested on stage at Meta Connect 2025. Instead, the real culprit was a self-inflicted technical misstep that left the audience watching some of the most awkward product fails in recent memory.

During the keynote, two major demos crashed spectacularly. One featured an influencer asking Meta’s AI assistant for cooking help. The other showed Zuckerberg himself trying — and failing — to answer a WhatsApp call through the new Ray-Ban smart glasses. Both moments went viral for all the wrong reasons.

What Really Happened Behind the Scenes

Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s chief technology officer, later clarified the blunders during an Instagram AMA. According to Bosworth, the issue wasn’t weak connectivity but rather Meta accidentally overloading its own system.

“When the chef said ‘Hey Meta, start Live AI,’ it triggered every single Meta Ray-Ban’s Live AI in the building,” Bosworth explained. The company had routed all Live AI traffic to a dev server — and unfortunately, every device at the event was tied to that same setup. The result? Meta essentially DDoS’d itself.

Why the Wi-Fi Excuse Fell Flat

On stage, Zuckerberg suggested the Wi-Fi was to blame. But Bosworth’s candid admission made clear that the glitch stemmed from poor internal routing decisions. In other words, it was a design flaw in the demo environment, not a network problem.

This detail matters because Wi-Fi issues are common scapegoats at live tech events. However, for a company positioning itself as the future of AI-powered wearables, blaming the network only added to the embarrassment.

The Bigger Takeaway for Meta

The failed demos highlight just how challenging live product reveals can be — especially when dealing with experimental AI features and smart glasses that rely on synchronized systems. For Meta, which is betting heavily on mixed reality hardware, the blunders served as a reminder that execution matters just as much as vision.

Despite the awkward start, Meta did showcase other promising moments at Connect 2025, including a sit-down with filmmaker James Cameron and an over-the-top finale with Diplo. But for many, the night will be remembered for the glitches that had nothing to do with the Wi-Fi.