Wired discovery code for yet-to-be-released facial recognition feature in Meta's AI app

Wired found code for a never-before-seen facial recognition feature in Meta's AI app

Meta has already reportedly explored facial recognition for its smart glasses.

Code for a facial recognition feature that could work on Meta smart glasses is buried in the company's Meta AI app, according to a new report from Wired. While it's not currently enabled, available to customers, or part of a previously announced feature, the code appears to be further evidence that Meta is thinking about how facial recognition could work with its smart glasses, as the New York Times first reported in February.

The feature, called "NameTag" in code found by Wired, would be able to capture people's faces using the company's smart glasses and later notify the wearer when it recognizes a previously captured face. No part of NameTag currently runs or sends biometric data to Meta's servers, according to a security researcher who reviewed the code found by Wired, but previous versions of the Meta AI app have included interface elements for the feature, such as a "Connections" menu that suggests users "remember who you've met."

Anonymous meta sources who spoke to The New York Times also referred to the company's facial recognition tool as "Name Tag." According to a memo reviewed during the report, Meta was interested in launching the feature in a "dynamic political environment" in the United States because "civil society groups that we expect to attack us would focus their resources on other concerns." While a pair of smart glasses that can identify the faces of visually impaired users has potential accessibility benefits, the feature also poses serious ethical concerns.

Engadget has reached out to Meta for more information on the code found by Wired and whether the company's stance on facial recognition in its smart glasses has changed. We will update this article if we receive a response.

Meta previously used facial recognition on Facebook as part of the platform's photo tagging features, but removed the technology in 2021 over privacy concerns. The company introduced facial recognition to Instagram and Facebook again in 2024, this time as a security tool to detect faces used in fraudulent ads. Beyond the existence of the code and Meta's long-standing interest in facial recognition, there is no indication that Name Tag will be part of a future pair of Meta's Ray-Ban or Oakley smart glasses. It is intriguing, however, that evidence of this functionality continues to appear.