Joe Gebbia has decided to join Elon Musk in the Department of Government Efficiency. The Airbnb co-founder is stepping in to help the Trump administration modernize the outdated paper-based retirement process. Gebbia’s move was met with so much backlash that the company had to issue an official statement.
A New York Times article reported that Joe Gebbia had officially joined the DOGE to help Musk in his effort to reduce federal spending. Last week, the co-founder of Airbnb took to X to reveal that he planned on bringing his “designer brain and start-up spirit” to the department.
In the same post, Gebbia shared that his contribution to DOGE would be to improve the “slow and paper-based retirement process” for federal employees. The Airbnb co-founder plans to replace the current process with something faster and “beautifully designed.”
Gebbia expressed his vision of turning the government into an “Apple store” in an interview with Fox News. He explained himself further by adding that his vision for the government is to be “ beautifully designed, great user experience, modern systems.”
He also added how “good design” and “good engineering” can improve the user experience. A New York Times report explained how slow and inefficient the current process for a federal employee wanting to retire is.
Applications are currently processed using 28,000 filing cabinets located in a limestone cave in Western Pennsylvania. The system, which was implemented in 1970, hasn’t been updated to date.
After the NYT reported on Gebbia’s involvement in DOGE, Airbnb received immense backlash. People took to the app’s community portal to express their displeasure over the recent turn of events.
DOGE aims to model the government after Apple
Joe Gebbia “We really believe that the government can have an Apple Store like experience, beautifully designed, great user experience, modern systems” pic.twitter.com/3SiBXF00PM
— jay plemons (@jayplemons) March 28, 2025
Hosts and guests on the app united to threaten to leave the platform to oppose Giebba’s active involvement in Trump’s government. The backlash against the company persisted, to the point that an Airbnb spokesperson had to come forward to address the issue.
Christopher Nulty, who serves as the company spokesperson, noted how Giebba was joining DOGE in his “personal capacity.” He added how the co-founder’s “personal views don’t reflect the views of Airbnb or Airbnb.org.”
I had a chance to tour the mine and speak with @NBCNews yesterday. Watch here:
Inside the mine housing the federal government’s retirement records, now in DOGE’s spotlight https://t.co/iLDF3QvHTL
— Joe Gebbia (@jgebbia) April 8, 2025
Giebba explained how his decision to join DOGE came about because of his love for a “challenge.” The co-founder recalled being informed about a “mine that dealt with retirement,” and the government required someone to fix it. “I love the challenge, so I jumped on board,” he shared.
But Giebba’s excitement was not clearly shared by users of Airbnb if the comments on the community portal are any indication. “I am extremely disturbed,” one person wrote. Another added, “Joe Gebbia cannot remain on the board.”
