Technology

Snap is spinning off its AR glasses into a separate business

2026-01-28 14:00
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Snap is spinning off its AR glasses into a separate business

Snap’s augmented reality glasses business will now be its own entity, with the company establishing Specs Inc. as a wholly owned subsidiary. It will enable Snap to more easily secure investors and par...

  1. Wearables
Snap is spinning off its AR glasses into a separate business

Specs Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary within Snap.

Mariella MoonContributing ReporterWed, January 28, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTCAdd Engadget on GoogleCo-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Snap Inc Evan Spiegel wears the Spectacle Augmented Reality glasses during the inauguration of the group's French headquarters in Paris on May 19, 2025. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP) (Photo by JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images) (JOEL SAGET via Getty Images)

Snap’s augmented reality glasses business will now be its own entity, with the company establishing Specs Inc. as a wholly owned subsidiary. It will enable Snap to more easily secure investors and partnerships for its wearables, as well as to grow Specs into a distinct brand while running it within Snap Inc. As The Information reported in mid-2025, Snap was thinking of ways to raise outside money for its AR glasses to be able to better compete with Meta, which has a lot more money to spend on development. It was already considering spinning off the business back then.

“Specs are launching at an important time, as artificial intelligence transforms the way that we use our computers,” the company said in its announcement. The glasses’ operating system can help you get things done faster based on what they see and what they know about your behaviors. Snap also says that its smartglasses can keep you present in the moment with friends and family unlike phones and computers, since they superimpose digital tools over your view of the real world. In addition, the company believes Specs can help reduce waste over time as its digital tools can replace physical objects, such as manuals and whiteboards.

Snap didn’t say whether Specs Inc. already has investors lined up, but it is already hiring for over 100 roles around the world. The new subsidiary is expected to launch Snap's next generation of standalone AR glasses sometime this year. Company CEO Evan Spiegel previously said that the model will be lighter, have a much smaller form factor and have more capabilities than its older smartglasses, which are mostly developer-focused.

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