What Is That Enigmatic Metal Gadget Being Used by US Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia?

Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb and the US Chief Design Officer appointed by Trump, was seen in San Francisco today with a mysterious metallic device. In a social media post on X that has accumulated over 500,000 views, a man resembling Gebbia can be spotted enjoying an espresso in a coffee shop. He’s outfitted with metallic earbuds that cross his ears, alongside a matching clamshell-shaped disc placed on the counter before him.

After the video surfaced Monday morning, social media users quickly speculated that it might be a prototype from OpenAI’s forthcoming line of hardware, developed in collaboration with renowned Apple designer Jony Ive. An OpenAI representative did not provide a comment regarding the possible Gebbia video when contacted by WIRED. Gebbia himself also hasn’t responded to requests for comment.

The device Gebbia is seen wearing bears a striking resemblance to hardware featured in a fake OpenAI advertisement that circulated widely on Reddit and social media last February. That previous video seemingly depicted Pillion actor Alexander Skarsgård using an AI device with earbuds and a similar circular disc. At the time, OpenAI rejected the widely shared video as inauthentic. “Fake news,” wrote OpenAI President Greg Brockman in response to a social media post.

The earbuds seen in the video featuring Gebbia also share some design similarities with the Huawei FreeClip 2, a pair of open earbuds launched earlier this year. However, the clamshell next to Gebbia on the coffee table differs from Huawei’s latest headphone case. It would also be quite unexpected for a government official to be using Huawei technology, given that the Chinese company is effectively barred from selling its phones in the US due to security issues.

WIRED’s audio specialists suggest that he is likely wearing open earbuds, as his pair bears resemblances to Soundcore’s AeroClips or Sony’s LinkBuds Clip, although the cases of those earbuds do not match what is visible in front of Gebbia. WIRED also analyzed the photo and video using software designed to identify AI-generated content and deepfakes. The detection software from a firm called Hive indicates that the chances of Gebbia’s imagery being AI-generated are low. Nonetheless, AI detectors are not infallible and can yield false positives. It’s conceivable that the entire post might be a synthetic fabrication.

Could this represent a subtle launch teaser for OpenAI’s hardware? The timing aligns, considering the company intends to deliver devices to consumers early in 2027. However, OpenAI has denied any connection to the prior faux-ad featuring the metallic AI hardware with its gleaming earbuds and matching disc.