The investment represents nearly 3% of the eyewear company's shares and signals Meta's growing interest in AI-powered wearable technology.

Facebook owner Meta has opened a £12million audio research laboratory in Cambridge as it steps up its work on AI-powered glasses. The lab features one of the “world’s largest configurable reverberation rooms” and will help it develop intelligent audio for wearable devices that adapts to surroundings.

It was rumored last year that Meta was seeking a minority stake in French-Italian eyewear conglomerate EssilorLuxottica, not only the largest eyewear manufacturer in the world, but also Meta’s partner behind its growing line of smart glasses.

Today (09 July 2025), Meta has opened a new 16 million dollar (£12m) audio research lab in Cambridge, which is in the UK government’s Ox-Cam corridor. The facility will research and support audio developments for Meta’s future AR glasses and AI glasses, including Ray-Ban Meta and the recently announced Oakley Meta.

Meta Platforms is looking to deepen its relationship with its smart-glasses partner as part of a new vision of the Metaverse.