Ex-meta engineer launches startup to challenge big tech's control over personal AI

Ash Saulsbury, a former systems architect at Apple and product lead for Meta’s wearable reality products, is now leading a startup called Awear AI. The company aims to enable users to switch eyewear brands without losing the data their AI assistants have accumulated. Saulsbury, who left Meta before its Ray-Ban products reached consumers, describes the early project as an extension of Meta’s advertising business. His startup, which emerged from stealth at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit on September 23, introduced Agentic System One (AS-One), a software platform for eyewear makers. Saulsbury told Fast Company, "You’ll see many companies go to enormous lengths to make it extremely difficult for their competitors to access your data. We make it extremely difficult for anyone, including ourselves, to access your data." Awear’s cofounders include Lila Tretikov and Jan Eißfeldt, who oversee privacy and trust architecture. The company’s COO, Jennifer Van Beek, brings luxury branding experience from her work with LVMH.