Meta Platforms (META -2.26%) is firing on all cylinders. Facebook’s parent company has posted excellent financial results this year and has been rewarded with an outstanding performance on the stock market.

Meta’s work in artificial intelligence (AI) has played a significant role in this result. The company is implementing AI-powered initiatives that are improving its core business — advertising. It is helping businesses streamline the ad process while increasing engagement on its platforms, all thanks to AI.

However, Meta Platforms’ AI prospects extend well beyond the impact it is already having — and should continue to have — on its advertising revenue. Here’s one underrated AI opportunity investors should keep in mind.

Image source: Getty Images.

The “ideal form factor for AI”

How will people interact with AI in their day-to-day lives? Smartphones already have many AI-powered functionalities, but Meta Platforms’ CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, thinks there is an even better option: AI glasses. In Zuckerberg’s own words: “I continue to think that glasses are basically going to be the ideal form factor for AI because you can let an AI see what you see throughout the day, hear what you hear, talk to you.”

Zuckerberg may have a point. AI chatbots can do a lot, but they can’t interact with the world around us in real time. AI glasses can offer the best of both worlds: real-time interaction with day-to-day activities, thanks to cameras and microphones, along with a vast library of knowledge, intelligent responses, and analysis capabilities similar to those of ChatGPT. It’s like having an extra pair of eyes, ears, and a brain. Meta Platforms is doubling down on this potential opportunity.

The tech leader has an established partnership with EssilorLuxottica (ESLOY -0.06%), the eyewear company behind renowned brands such as Oakley and Ray-Ban. Meta Platforms owns a minority stake in the stock. Meta Platforms has launched AI glasses under both brands, and the data shows that they are experiencing soaring demand. EssilorLuxottica noted that in the first six months of 2025, sales of Meta’s Ray-Ban AI glasses increased by more than 200% year over year.

What does this mean for investors?

That said, these glasses still make up only a tiny percentage of Meta Platforms’ sales. In the second quarter, the company’s advertising revenue of $46.6 billion accounted for 98% of Meta’s total revenue. Nevertheless, there could be a meaningful opportunity here. As of early 2025, Meta’s Ray-Ban AI glasses had sold over two million units since their launch in October 2023, with plans to ramp up production to sell 10 million units per year.

That’s a minuscule number considering that more than a billion people worldwide wear glasses. And if glasses are the ideal form factor for AI and become the norm within 10 years (Zuckerberg’s prediction), perhaps even those who don’t currently wear them will eventually have to do so. This is something else Zuckerberg has argued, namely that people without AI glasses will be at a cognitive disadvantage in the future.

If this is correct, then Meta Platforms’ work in this area will eventually prove to be a growth driver as sales ramp up significantly. And Meta is already in a great position to benefit. It has been a pioneer in this field, having invested a substantial amount in its AI strategy, partnered with a leading eyewear company, and launched glasses under the umbrella of a popular brand or two. Of course, Meta Platforms’ prospects go well beyond its eyewear ambitions.

The company should continue benefiting from AI, as the technology has a positive impact on every aspect of its business. Meta Platforms aims to automate the ad launch process completely by next year, an initiative that could boost ad demand within its ecosystem and increase top-line growth. Meta Platforms also has other growth opportunities, such as business messaging on WhatsApp, as well as an ecosystem that is second to none among social media specialists. The company’s overall prospects look bright.

Meta Platforms’ AI glasses strategy, though, deserves a little more attention, in my view. Investors should pay close attention to how that side of the business evolves in the next five years.