Nothing's first smart glasses leak reveals two very different bets

Nothing has been talking about a future beyond smartphones for a while now, and smart glasses keep popping up in that vision. CEO Carl Pei has argued that AI could eventually reshape computing around devices that understand more of the world around us, and we’ve also heard that Nothing was targeting its first glasses for 2027. Now a new leak suggests the company isn’t betting on just one answer for what belongs on your face.

According to leaker Roland Quandt on Bluesky, Nothing is preparing two pairs of smart glasses. The first is reportedly camera-free, with audio playback, calls, access to your phone’s voice assistant, and photochromic lenses that automatically darken in brighter conditions. The second would add a camera, plus ChatGPT, translation, and other unspecified features.

That split could be the most interesting part of Nothing’s strategy. Cameras are enormously useful on smart glasses, letting AI understand what you’re looking at and enabling hands-free photography. But they’re also the feature turning these gadgets into a privacy headache. People have been covertly filmed with camera glasses, venues and workplaces are restricting them, and manufacturers have been forced to strengthen recording indicators and other safeguards.

Nothing wouldn’t be alone in recognizing that tension. Meta recently introduced the camera-free Ray-Ban Audio alongside its camera-equipped models, explicitly trading visual features for a lighter design and longer battery life.

As for Nothing’s design, the leak doesn’t reveal much. An earlier report said the company intends to carry its distinctive design philosophy into the glasses, while offloading AI processing to a phone and the cloud. We now have a clearer idea of what may power that intelligence, with the camera-equipped model said to include ChatGPT alongside translation and other AI features. It remains unclear how deeply OpenAI’s assistant will integrate, but it appears poised to handle at least some of the glasses’ more advanced AI interactions.

For a company built around making ordinary gadgets look anything but ordinary, glasses may be its toughest design test yet. The more interesting question, though, may be whether Nothing can make them feel socially normal too.