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Decoder · 2 min · May 27, 2025

Google expects smart glasses to reach developers before mass adoption

Google's XR glasses partners will put developer products in users' hands this year, and Sundar Pichai says they may resemble final designs. He expects millions to try them, but not mass adoption next year.

Sundar Pichai

Sundar Pichai is CEO of Google and Alphabet.

Helped build Google Toolbar and Chrome, then led Google from 2015 and Alphabet from 2019.

  • Nilay Patel, Host · Editor-in-chief, The Verge

    Helped start The Verge in 2011 and has hosted Decoder since 2020.

About this segment

Google's XR glasses partners will put developer products in users' hands this year, and Sundar Pichai says they may resemble final designs. He expects millions to try them, but not mass adoption next year.

From “Google CEO Sundar Pichai on the future of search, AI agents, and selling Chrome”, May 27, 2025. Watch the full episode

“We'll have products in the hands of developers this year, but I think those products will be pretty close to what people will eventually see as final products.”
Sundar Pichaiat 11:34 · Decoder11:34

Takeaways

  1. Developer products are expected this year.
  2. Those versions may be close to final designs.
  3. Millions may try them before they become mainstream.

In this episode

Full episode
  1. 7:36Google invests before it can see the next big business2:51
  2. 28:48Agents will force businesses to choose how they participate5:54
  3. 21:08Google says AI search will keep sending traffic to the webPro pick 6:15
  4. 4:10AI could let far more people create software and media3:48

  5. 10:41Google expects smart glasses to reach developers before mass adoption2:10

  6. 34:19Google says individual pressure will not change search rankings2:57Up next
  7. 38:40Pichai sees robotics as the next major AI platform shift2:23

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

  1. 10:53

    One reason I wanted to start here as the foundation of the conversation is you showed off. Android XR yesterday, you showed off some prototype glasses, you have some partners making glasses. A lot of people think augmented reality glasses powered by AI will be the realization of the full platform shift, right? You will have an always-on assistant that can look at the world around you. You showed some of those demos yesterday. The form factor will change. The interface will change. This will be a market as big as smartphones were. How close do you think we are to that as a mainstream product? It was a nice reflective moment all the way back from Google Glass. You know, wearing the product, I think there's a difference between goggles and glasses. Everyone at Verge understands this as well, but, you know, obviously we are also shipping

  2. 11:35

    goggles. You know, we have announced products with Samsung to come later this year. On the XR side, I think I'm excited about our partnership with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. We'll have products in the hands of developers this year, but I think those products will be pretty close to what people will eventually see as final products. So I'm excited. I think the pace is actually pretty palpable.

  3. 12:01

    So I'd be shocked if you and I were sitting next year. You know, I wasn't wearing one of that when I'm doing the... Do you think that will be like a mainstream iPhone-level replacement product? Because there's a lot of hardware that needs to get developed along the way to pull that off. You know, look, you're wearing something on your face. People like, I have prescription, right? And, you know, the bar is higher, I think, in terms of making the experience seamless enough that you're willing to wear it in your face and enjoy it for all.

  4. 12:30

    So I don't think Nestle next year is as mainstream as what you're talking about. But would millions of people be trying it? I think so. Yeah. So both are true, I think.