Inc. takes a retrospective look at this year’s most notable failures in business and innovation.

BY MARÍA JOSÉ GUTIERREZ CHAVEZ, EDITORIAL FELLOW

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Illustration: Inc; Photo: Getty Images, Apple, Casio, Friend AI

This year we saw robots face planting, creepy wearable tech, interface changes nobody asked for, and advertising schemes straight out of a dystopian movie. 

And so as 2025 comes to a close, Inc. took a look at this year’s most notable failures in business and innovation for readers looking for a quick laugh—and a lesson on what not to do.

The race to build the most capable and functional humanoid robot is well underway. Tesla has built the Optimus robots to serve visitors of their diner popcorn, and a Chinese humanoid robot broke records by walking 66 miles in three days. But even as advances in robotics continue to progress, humanoid robots are far from catching up to their human counterparts.

In a viral video, Russia’s first humanoid robot walked a mere few feet on stage during its demo, only to quickly flop over and be dragged backstage by the event organizers.

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Meanwhile in a half-marathon in Beijing, 21 humanoid robots participated alongside 12,000 human runners—only six made it to the finish line. While a robot running half a marathon is still a great feat, the robots were subject to overheating and falls, keeping many from finishing the race.

During the MetaConnect 2025 in September, the $1.5 trillion company revealed the Meta Ray-Ban AI glasses. Paired with an accompanying wristband that monitors hand movement, the wearable tech device promised to bring the world of Ready Player One to reality.

According to The Verge, Meta’s Ray-Bans sold more than 2 million pairs since their debut, with long term plans including the production of 10 million pairs each year by 2026. Yet, like Zuckerberg’s Metaverse, the glasses don’t always work as expected.

During a live demo, the product failed to answer a phone call, leaving Zuckerberg to awkwardly try to fill the silence. In a separate live demo, the glasses

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