Meta tests smart glasses with defense contractor’s facial recognition software
Meta has been testing facial recognition software from a defense contractor as it debates whether to introduce the technology into its smart glasses.
The tool, according to a software license obtained by Wired, is produced by the Denver-based company Rank One Computing.
Wired also discovered evidence of a relationship between Rank One and Meta in facial recognition code hidden within Meta’s AI app. The code, which Meta never announced to the public, was not active and was removed after Wired’s discovery.
Rank One’s customers include the U.S. military, law enforcement and even public schools. The company’s facial recognition technology is used by the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. Special Operations Command.
The software license issued to Meta, according to Wired, authorizes the tech company to use Rank One’s facial recognition technology and its “liveness detection” capability. The feature is used to determine whether a camera is looking at a real person or something else, like a mask or an image of a person.
Neither Meta or Rank One have commented on their business relationship.
Rank One’s leadership includes former government officials from the FBI, CIA and the Department of Defense. B. Scott Swann, the company’s chief executive, previously worked in the FBI bureau that operates its biometric databases. The company’s board of directors also contains a former CIA deputy director for science and technology, a former Pentagon official and a former head of the FBI’s science and technology branch.
Meta ‘exploring’ facial recognition
The discovery of the business partnership comes after The New York Times revealed in January a leaked internal memo from May 2025 in which Meta suggested adding facial recognition to its smart glasses during a period when civil liberties groups would be too busy to protest.
When Wired revealed the inclusion of facial recognition code in the Meta AI app last week, which has been downloaded more than 50 million times, the company denied any finalized plans to introduce the feature.
“Regardless of any sensational reporting, the facts are simple: We’ve said before we’re exploring these types of features, and what you’re seeing is just evidence of that exploration,” Meta spokesperson Ryan Daniels said. “Nothing has shipped to consumers and no final decision has been made on what to do here, if anything. If we do decide to roll something out, we will take a thoughtful approach and do so with full transparency. One decision we can be clear about — we are not building a central face database.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
