• Joe Gebbia's first DOGE project focuses on digitizing the federal retirement process.
  • OPM claims early success, reducing processing time from months to just two days.
  • Some Airbnb hosts are removing listings in protest of Gebbia's DOGE involvement.

Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia has revealed his first project as part of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), announcing Thursday on X that he will leverage his design expertise to revamp the government's retirement process.

The billionaire entrepreneur will focus on transforming the notoriously paper-heavy federal retirement system into a streamlined digital experience.

This comes nearly two weeks after The New York Times first reported Gebbia's involvement with DOGE.

Chuck Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), shared in a video testimonial reposted by Gebbia that the administration had challenged the agency to "process a retiree, end to end, digitally, without printing anything to paper" within one week.

According to an agency employee featured in the same video, they've already managed to reduce the process to just two days.

"Since leaving my operating role at Airbnb in 2022, I've been looking for the next digital design challenge. And I can think of few more important ones than volunteering to improve the user experience within our government," Gebbia wrote on X.

The OPM has faced pressure for years to modernize its systems, with some retirees previously waiting more than 90 days to receive their benefits.

Last summer, the agency launched a pilot program for a new online retirement application platform to address these concerns.

Gebbia, who retains his seat on Airbnb's board and joined Tesla's board in September 2022, has drawn criticism from some Airbnb hosts for his involvement with DOGE.

Several hosts told the San Francisco Standard they have removed their listings in protest, with one DC-area host stating they could "no longer be an Airbnb host in good faith."

Airbnb responded by emphasizing that Gebbia hasn't been involved in daily operations since 2022, noting: "Airbnb has always been about more than the viewpoint of any one person. Our community is made up of millions of hosts and hundreds of millions of guests from all walks of life."

Edited by Annette George