Google To Renew Its Interest In Smart Glasses With Potential $115 Million Acquisition

Smart glasses were a hot topic of discussion and display at both, CES 2025 and WMC 2025 (World Mobile Congress).

While attendees certainly showed a tremendous amount of interest in the new products at both events, the sheer increase in smart glasses brands over the past few years has been unprecedented, leading to many people asking the question: What are The Best Smart Glasses In 2025?

It’s not just smart glasses that are enjoying a sudden surge of interest. With technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) advancing at a rapid pace, many products that were thought of as “concepts” are finding new life among tech companies.

That being said, many leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies that have been operating within the software sector are diving into the deep end of hardware development. This includes Meta—which is popular for its Llama family of AI models (software) and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and Quest VR (virtual reality) headsets (hardware). Similarly, technology conglomerates such as Apple, Amazon, and others are invested in this race.

For Google, this trend presents a “been there, done that” bittersweet moment.

While the company is certainly a force to reckon with in the GenAI space—with Gemini—it’s had some tough luck in the smart glasses market as its Google Glass brand of smart glasses received the axe twice.

Originally launched in 2014 by Google’s X Development, it was removed from the market in 2015. It was then relaunched in 2019 (with Enterprise editions) and pulled again in 2023. Essentially, this made Google a pioneer in smart glasses technology.

However, Google isn’t one to give up.


The company is set to re-enter the smart glasses industry, this time beginning with an acquisition. As per reports, Google is set to purchase Canadian startup AdHawk Microsystems for $115 million as per people with knowledge of the matter (who chose to remain anonymous).

The agreement is poised to be completed in the coming days; however, it could still fall apart as it hasn’t been signed as yet.

AdHawk is leading the way in eye-tracking technology—including chips, hardware, and software—where its camera-free, micro-electromechanical (MEMS) eye tracker requires 1000 times less data than camera-based systems to produce 10 times higher sampling rates. The company comes in with superior data quality, super low latency, minimal compute, battery efficiency, processing speed, and accuracy among other benefits that no competitor has been able to reach, as per its website.

Neither Google nor AdHawk responded to requests for comment.

Interestingly, Meta considered purchasing the company back in 2022. AdHawk is backed by Samsung Venture Investment, Intel Capital, HP Tech Ventures, EssilorLuxottica (Ray-Ban's owner), and others.

If Google were to launch a new brand of smart glasses (how’s Google Goggle for a name?), it’s not just Gemini’s AI capabilities that will play a part in its development. Google DeepMind’s Project Astra, which is looking to build a universal AI assistant that can be helpful in everyday life, has shown promise in smart glasses it powers, as per Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin.

Whether Google’s deal with AdHawk Microsystems will go through is left to be seen.

Do you think Google will be able to capture a commanding position in the smart glasses industry despite its delayed (re)entry into the market?

Let us know in the comments below!