Spying with smart glasses? DK Shivakumar claims businessman targeted him and Kerala leaders

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has claimed that a businessman wearing Meta AI glasses recently met him in what he suspected was an attempt to spy on him. The claim comes amid a continuing controversy over an alleged "sting operation". Shivakumar made the remarks in an interview with a Kannada news channel. He said he has an ability to read faces, which he attributed to his experience. "Thousands of people meet me daily," he said, adding that he can tell why someone has come to see him.

Describing the meeting, Shivakumar said the businessman had come to discuss business and that officers had fixed the appointment. The visitor was taken to the ante-chamber, where he opened his laptop.

According to the chief minister, the man did not speak about his company or business. Instead, he began discussing politics and psephology, and spoke about what could be done in individual booths, much like a psephologist. Shivakumar said this made him suspicious and that he asked for an inquiry into the man and his background.

Shivakumar did not name the businessman. He said he noticed the man's eyewear, claiming he wore Meta glasses when he met Shivakumar and Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan. He said the man was not wearing glasses when he met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, or when he met a union minister in Maharashtra.

The chief minister also said he had credible information that attempts were being made to conduct a sting operation on his ministers. At a Cabinet meeting, he said, he advised them to be cautious and not to fall for traps. He said he did so as the head of the family. "What's wrong with that? I have all the documents," he said.