Meta has acquired a minority stake in EssilorLuxottica SA, the world’s leading eyewear manufacturer, which also makes Ray-Ban, for expanding the tech giant’s financial involvement in the smart glasses sector, as reported by Bloomberg.

Meta acquired slightly less than 3% of Ray-Ban producer EssilorLuxottica, a stake currently valued at about $3.5 billion based on market prices.

According to the report, the company is also contemplating additional investments that might boost its ownership to roughly 5% in the future, although these plans could still be subject to change.

Based in Menlo Park, California, Meta’s financial commitment to the eyewear company strengthens the alliance between the two firms, which have collaborated in recent years to create AI-driven smart glasses. Currently, Meta offers a pair of Ray-Ban glasses that launched in 2021, featuring integrated cameras and an AI assistant.

The glasses come with built-in Meta AI, enabling users to interact through voice commands. Users can communicate with phrases like “Hey Meta” to ask questions, stream music or podcasts, make phone calls, and broadcast live on Instagram or Facebook. 

Meta states that the product is intended to help users “stay present and connected to who and what they care about most.”

Last month, the company unveiled Oakley-branded glasses in collaboration with EssilorLuxottica. Francesco Milleri, CEO of EssilorLuxottica, mentioned last year that Meta showed interest in acquiring a stake in the firm, but this plan did not materialise until now.

For EssilorLuxottica, this agreement enhances its involvement in the tech sector, which could be advantageous if Meta’s forward-looking initiatives succeed. Meta is also wagering on the possibility that people will eventually engage in work and leisure activities while using headsets or glasses, Bloomberg reported.

Gnani.ai has launched Inya.ai, a no-code Agentic AI platform designed to help developers and enterprises deploy intelligent voice and chat agents across customer-facing workflows, without writing a single line of code.

The platform is aimed at revenue-critical functions such as lead qualification, payment nudges, abandoned cart recovery, contextual upselling, and multilingual follow-ups. It supports personalised, emotionally intelligent conversations at scale while maintaining contextual memory across sessions. 

To encourage early adoption, Inya.ai is offering $10,000 in free credits to the first 1,000 sign-ups. 

“Inya’s multi-agent orchestration capability, allows businesses to create agents for different teams that can communicate, collaborate, and operate cohesively,” said Ganesh Gopalan, co-founder & CEO, Gnani.ai.

With support for voice, chat, SMS, and WhatsApp, Inya.ai is built on the back of Gnani.ai’s eight years of domain expertise in sectors like BFSI, retail, telecom, automotive, and consumer durables. Its multilingual capabilities and enterprise-friendly integration make it adaptable for diverse business needs.

According to the website, companies like IDFC First Bank, P&G, HDFC Bank, and a few others are already testing and deploying this in their work.

“It is open, developer-friendly, voice-first, and built for seamless enterprise integration,” said Ananth Nagaraj, Co-founder & CTO, Gnani.ai.

Gnani.ai’s momentum also includes its selection under the IndiaAI Mission, where the company is developing India’s first voice-focused LLM with 14 billion parameters covering over 40 languages, including more than 15 Indian languages.

A Bengaluru-based software developer has launched an iPhone game that captures the daily chaos of commuting in the city with the help of AI. Titled Mission Office, the game was created by Harin Nitisvaar using ChatGPT to generate assets, with final edits done in Photoshop. 

Built using SwiftUI in Xcode, the game is now available for download on the iOS App Store. 

Drawing from his own rides to work on an Ather electric scooter, Nitisvaar, who currently works at Zepto and formerly at Swiggy and Dunzo, designed the game to simulate the challenges faced by Bengaluru commuters. 

Players dodge potholes, barricades, and cows, aiming to reach their office in one piece. Familiar city landmarks add to the immersive, cartoon-style gameplay.

“Currently, the player image is AI-generated, and I can even create your avatar driving your favorite vehicle,” Nitisvaar replied to a post asking if players can customise the vehicle to other EVs like Ultraviolette, Ola, or Chetak.

A version 2.0 is in the works, which will add traffic jams and urban floods to further simulate the Bengaluru commute.

The game’s clever integration of real-world elements and its humorous tone have struck a chord on social media. Users on X (formerly Twitter) have praised its relatability, with some suggesting new features like auto-rickshaws and regional language dialogues.

Nitisvaar’s approach stands out for its low-cost development process powered by AI tools, showing how generative models can help solo developers create visually rich games. 

While the game is available only on iOS for now, there’s no word yet on an Android release.