Airbnb Cofounder Joins DOGE, Eager to Revolutionize Government

Big news in the world of tech and government! Joe Gebbia, the guy who helped build Airbnb into a household name, is teaming up with Elon Musk on a project called DOGE. Yes, you read that right. DOGE.

What’s this all about? Well, Gebbia wants to use his design skills to make the government work a little smoother. Airbnb made booking a vacation rental a breeze. He’s aiming to do the same for government processes.

Fixing the Retirement Logjam

Gebbia’s first target? The federal employee retirement process. Apparently, it’s a slow, paper-filled mess. Musk even mentioned that the manual process limits the number of retirements processed each month. Imagine all that paperwork!

Musk joked about the retirement paperwork ending up in a limestone mine. Turns out, that’s not far from the truth! A converted mine in Pennsylvania has been used to store government records for decades.

The goal is to ditch the paper and go digital. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is working on it, but it’s expected to take years to fully transition to an online platform. That’s where Gebbia comes in.

Why This Matters

Gebbia left his day-to-day role at Airbnb a while back. He says he’s been looking for a new challenge, and what’s bigger than making government more user-friendly? It’s a chance to make a real difference in people’s lives.

OPM even shared a video showing the first fully digital retirement application being processed in just a week. The old manual way? An average of 64 days. Huge improvement!

Gebbia is also asking others to join the effort. If you have design skills and want to help, reach out. Musk seems pretty happy to have him on board.

A Bit of a Surprise?

This news confirms earlier reports about Gebbia joining DOGE. It’s interesting to see someone from the tech world diving into government efficiency. Will he be paid for his work? Unclear. The White House has said Musk is a “special government employee” and isn’t getting paid.

Gebbia and Musk have a good relationship. He’s been on Tesla’s board since 2022. He even mentioned that Musk considered buying a home from his startup.

One more thing: Gebbia has voted for both Democrats and Republicans. He says the Democratic Party isn’t what it used to be. He hopes they’ll try to win back voters like him.