Oura Pulls IPO as AI Wearables Stumble on Privacy — SkimNews
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- Oura delayed its expected IPO on Tuesday despite strong product demand, citing 'uncertainty in the IPO market,' though Moor Insights & Strategy analyst Anshel Sag called the move 'weird' and suspected an undisclosed reason.
- Meta's smart glasses have been branded 'pervert glasses' on social media over their discreet cameras, with users reporting unauthorized filming on dates and during Facebook Marketplace meetups, while a Kylie Jenner ad campaign drew further surveillance-style criticism.
- Apple unveiled AI features on the Watch Series 12 in early September that listen to conversations, while OpenAI debuted its Dots personal assistant this week — though its Jony Ive collaboration is not a wearable, per Bloomberg.
- The Humane AI Pin, discontinued last year after poor reviews, and the Rabbit r1 both illustrate execution pitfalls, per Techsponential's Avi Greengart, who said $700 devices that overheat and have poor battery life need 'magical' utility to win consumers.
- DA Davidson's Gil Luria declared camera-equipped glasses 'done for at this moment,' saying his own teenage sons who were once 'super excited' about the devices now 'wouldn't be caught dead' wearing them.
- The Meta social media addiction trial saw a Los Angeles judge threaten contempt in February for anyone wearing AI smart glasses during CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony, as gyms and other venues have banned the devices over privacy concerns.
Why it matters: Oura's last-minute IPO withdrawal and Luria's blunt 'done for at this moment' verdict on camera glasses suggest the wearables category's category-defining breakthrough is further off than Big Tech's marketing budgets imply — Meta, Apple, and OpenAI are now competing in a market where venues are banning the hardware and courts are treating wearers as courtroom threats.
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