Google co-founder Sergey Brin recently admitted to making several mistakes with Google Glass during an onstage interview at Google I/O 2025. Brin, who was a surprise addition to an interview with Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, conducted by Big Technology Podcast's Alex Kantrowitz, revealed his lack of knowledge about consumer electronic supply chains and the challenges of building smart glasses at a reasonable price point.
Despite these setbacks, Brin remains a strong believer in the smart glasses form factor and is glad that Google is pursuing the technology once again, this time with "great partners who are helping us build this." On the same day, Google unveiled its latest effort to develop Android XR smart glasses, approximately a decade after the Google Glass project was shut down. Google leaders demonstrated how their smart glasses, powered by DeepMind's Project Astra, could assist with live translations, directions, and general AI queries.
To develop Android XR glasses with AI and AR capabilities, Google is collaborating with a network of partners, including Samsung and Xreal. The company is also investing up to $150 million in a partnership with Warby Parker and taking an equity stake in the eyewear company to support its smart glasses efforts. These experienced eyewear and electronics makers may be able to help address some of the supply chain challenges associated with producing smart glasses, as Brin mentioned.
Brin highlighted the impact of generative AI on smart glasses, making their capabilities much more tangible than when Google Glass was first introduced. During the interview, Brin also acknowledged his return from retirement to work on Google's Gemini efforts. He spends nearly every day in the Mountain View, California office, assisting the Gemini team with multimodal projects such as Google's video-generating model Veo 3.
Brin emphasized that computer scientists should not be retired at this time, as they should be focusing on AI development. Previous reports have suggested that Brin has been pushing Google's Gemini teams aggressively to compete in the AI race. He reportedly told Google employees in a memo that they should be in the office at least every weekday and that working 60 hours a week is likely the ideal for productivity.