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By Jaspreet Singh and Aditya Soni

June 16 (Reuters) - Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told Reuters the company's new Specs augmented-reality ‌glasses are part of its long-term strategy, pushing back ‌on activist investor demands to shut down or spin off the cash-burning unit ​behind the device.

The Snapchat parent launched the device, its first consumer AR glasses, on Tuesday at a price of $2,195 and pitched them as the future of how people interact with technology in the ‌AI age.

The launch ⁠comes months after Irenic Capital Management pushed Snap to consider options for Specs as part of a ⁠series of changes that the activist investor said could boost the social media company's worth by at least five times.

Irenic has argued ​Specs should ​be funded on its own, ​noting Snap has already spent ‌more than $3.5 billion on the unit.

"While investors may want more short-term profitability, our job at Snap is to drive long-term profitability and the long-term success of the company," Spiegel said in an interview.

"One of the things we've always been clear about as ‌we've built Snap... was that we ​were committed to our long-term vision. And ​that includes staying independent ​rather than selling the company," he said.

Spiegel said ‌the company is expected to share "more ​later this year ​in terms of how we're thinking about partnerships over a longer period of time."

The company carved out the unit ​as a standalone ‌subsidiary in January, a structure that could let it raise ​outside funding.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh and Aditya Soni in ​Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)