Snapchat Boss Open to Teen Time Limits as Snap Unveils $2,195 AI Smart Glasses

Snap Inc chief executive Evan Spiegel says the company is open to introducing default time limits for teenagers on Snapchat, following pressure from Meta for other social media platforms to adopt stronger safeguards for young users.

Speaking to the BBC at Snap’s headquarters in California, Spiegel said setting a maximum amount of time teenagers could spend on Snapchat could be “an important step forward for the industry”. However, he did not give a timeline for any potential changes.

The comments come after Meta agreed to a multibillion-dollar settlement with US states over allegations that its platforms were designed to encourage addictive use among young people. As part of the agreement, Meta said it would introduce a two-hour daily limit for teenage users by default, alongside measures including muted notifications during school hours and overnight restrictions.

Meta has also encouraged other major platforms, including Snap, YouTube and TikTok, to adopt similar measures. Meta denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which it is expected to pay over 10 years.

Spiegel said Snap had considered the proposed restrictions internally and described a default time limit as something the company would be willing to implement. He added that Snapchat already provides parental tools through its Family Center, allowing parents to monitor aspects of their teenagers’ use of the platform.

“We want to figure out how we can be part of the solution,” Spiegel said.

The discussion over teen screen time comes as Snap prepares to launch its latest Specs smart glasses, which combine artificial intelligence with augmented-reality features. The company says the glasses can provide recommendations based on users’ goals, relationships and routines, rather than requiring users to constantly ask a chatbot for information.

Snap says Specs can also display digital information over the real world, support video streaming and provide live translation across 60 languages. The glasses are priced at $2,195 in the United States and £1,995 in the United Kingdom.

Spiegel said the initial target market would include technology early adopters, developers and enterprise customers. Weighing about 130 grams, the glasses are designed to provide some of the immersive features associated with virtual-reality headsets while remaining wearable in everyday environments.

Privacy has also been a major consideration in the development of Specs. Snap says the glasses do not use facial recognition to identify people and include a white indicator light that flashes when the device is taking a photo or recording video.

The launch comes as Meta faces scrutiny over privacy concerns involving its own AI smart glasses. Meta says seven million pairs of its glasses have been sold, while the company has remotely disabled cameras on thousands of devices where it detected attempts to tamper with the recording indicator.

For Snap, the latest developments put two issues at the centre of its strategy: addressing concerns over teenage use of social media while expanding into a new generation of AI-powered wearable technology.