Actual source: https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/17/camera-equipped-airpods...

(This dexerto is just a Yahoo News type place that says "according to reporting by xyz...")

Anyways, this is horrible. Even if Apple says they remain private on private cloud with private AI ... it's still someone recording everything at all times. Surprised that they would do this. And of course this normalizes recording everything further, for companies without such privacy-forward reputations (Meta and company).

Edit: perhaps it will be only "as requested" similar to Siri? Which, if you take them at their word, isn't always listening. So it's hopefully not capable of just "always recording".