The Download: India's Smart Glasses Menace and AI's Trillion-Dollar Gamble
Plus: hackers claim they've stolen data on almost all FBI employees.
By Thomas Macaulay | September 23, 2026
This is today's edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology.
Smart Glasses Are Already Causing Havoc in India
When Shubnam saw an Instagram video of a Delhi protest they had attended, they realized a content creator wearing Meta smart glasses had recorded them surreptitiously. The mocking reel drew millions of views, along with transphobic abuse and AI-generated memes.
Experts warn that many others will experience similar ordeals as smart glasses go mainstream. The risks are particularly acute in India, where covert recording and the circulation of images without consent are already pervasive.
The bigger issue is that smart glasses aren't just being used to turn ordinary people into targets of viral "pranks." They're also becoming a tool of police surveillance.
Here's why smart glasses are creating new privacy risks in India.
βAnuj Behal
MIT Technology Review Narrated: What's at Stake in AI's Trillion-Dollar Gamble
When Jessica Wachter, a University of Pennsylvania fin...