has said he wants to streamline online government services after US President appointed him to lead a new US National Design Studio.
The agency has been described as a stripped-down successor to the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), formerly headed by billionaire .
What is the National Design Studio?
Trump signed an executive order on Thursday establishing the studio. The order states that it would advise agencies on usability, aesthetics, and standardized design, while also cutting duplication costs. It is scheduled to operate for three years and then close.
Gebbia said on X that his aim is to make government websites “beautiful,” run on modern software, and provide an excellent user experience. He compared the vision to the Apple App Store, promising services that are simple, reliable, and satisfying to citizens.
The 44-year-old co-founder of Airbnb and Tesla board member said he would do his best to make the US “the most beautiful, and usable, country in the digital world.”
Who is Joe Gebbia?
In 2007, Joe Gebbia and his former Rhode Island School of Design classmate Brian Chesky quit their jobs and launched a company after their San Francisco landlord raised the rent by 20%, pushing it beyond what they could afford. With the Industrial Design Society of America conference about to take place and hotels fully booked, Gebbia proposed renting out airbeds in their apartment.
They set up a website called “AirBed & Breakfast” and promoted it through design blogs, securing three bookings that allowed them to cover the rent.
In 2008, Nathan Blecharczyk, a Harvard graduate and technical architect who had also faced a steep rent increase in San Francisco, joined as the third cofounder.
By 2024, had hosted more than 1.5 billion guest arrivals, operated in over 220 countries and regions, and reached a market value in the tens of billions of dollars after its 2020 IPO on Nasdaq.
Gebbia joined Musk’s DOGE team, tasked with identifying federal spending they consider unnecessary.
He was tasked with digitizing the US federal retirement system and joined a “small council of advisers” to oversee DOGE following Musk’s departure.
Gebbia shifted from being a major Democratic donor to aligning with Trump in 2024, citing disillusionment with his former party.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
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