From Business Insider · Brent D. Griffiths · · 1m 40s
Apple's answer to the 'pervert glasses' problem
Apple's new CEO got asked about the AI glasses backlash, and his answer was really about the watch on your wrist.
In brief
Apple's new CEO got asked about the AI glasses backlash, and his answer was really about the watch on your wrist. Apple's privacy pitch for always-listening wearables is that nothing is ever recorded, only summarized, so there is no audio file to hand over to anyone. Originally reported by Business Insider.
The question nobody dodges well
A Tom's Guide editor asked Apple CEO John Ternus about the backlash against what people call 'pervert glasses.' Apple is rumored to be building AI glasses of its own.
“what do you think about the backlash around what people are calling, you know, 'pervert glasses'”
Joswiak gets the laugh
Marketing chief Greg Joswiak cut in before Ternus could answer. Meta declined to comment on the exchange.
“That's quite a marketing slogan.”
Meta is fighting the label
Meta is running a marketing push around the light that signals recording, blocking users who tamper with it, and promising to pull harassing videos from Instagram. That moderation has been rocky.
The watch is always listening
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 get optional 'audio intelligence.' Siri Recap turns meetings or a whole day into high-level notes. Live Rewind puts the last 15 seconds of speech on screen.
No audio, no file, no subpoena
Processing starts only when on-device AI hears speech. Nothing is recorded or stored, there is no speaker attribution, and Apple says it cannot access raw audio, so it cannot be forced to hand any over.
“It's just those higher-level notes to remind you of that without getting into all the stuff that really is privacy concerning”
A light of its own
Live Rewind shows audio and visual cues on the watch face to tell people nearby that speech is being processed, the same idea as Meta's recording light. Both features hit beta later this year.
The bottom line
Apple's privacy pitch for always-listening wearables is that nothing is ever recorded, only summarized, so there is no audio file to hand over to anyone.
