Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb and the Trump-appointed American design director, was spotted in San Francisco today using a mysterious metal device. In a social media post on X viewed over 500,000 times, a man who looks like Gebbia is sitting with an espresso in a cafe. He wears metallic buds who cuts his ears in half, with a matching shell-shaped disc in front of him on the counter.
After the video was posted Monday morning, social media users quickly suggested that it could be some sort of prototype for OpenAI’s next line of hardware devices. designed in partnership with famous Apple designer Jony Ive. An OpenAI spokesperson declined to comment on Gebbia’s potential video after WIRED contacted them. Gebbia also did not respond to a request for comment.
The device Gebbia appears to be wearing looks very similar to the hardware seen in a fake OpenAI advertising which was widely shared on Reddit and social media in February. This video from last month apparently showed Back seat actor Alexander Skarsgård interacts with an AI device that has a pair of similar-looking headphones and a circular disc. At the time, OpenAI denounced the widely viewed video as unreal. “Fake news,” wrote Greg Brockman, President of OpenAI at the time, responding to a social media post.
The headphones seen in Gebbia’s video also have a shape quite similar to the headphones. Huawei FreeClip2a pair of open earphones released earlier this year. However, the case seen on the cafe counter next to Gebbia is different from Huawei’s most recent headphone case. It would also be quite surprising if a government official was seen using Huawei technology, given the Chinese company is actually prohibited from selling its phones in the United States for security reasons.
WIRED’s audio experts say he’s most likely wearing open-back headphones, as both Gebbia men share some similarities with Soundcore AeroClips Or Sony LinkBuds clipalthough the cases for these buds do not match what is on the table in front of Gebbia. WIRED also released the photo and video through software that attempts to identify AI-generated output and other deepfakes. The detection software, from a company called Hive, says there is little chance these images of Gebbia were generated by AI. Always, AI detectors are not always reliable and may include false outputs. It is possible that the entire message is a synthetic hoax.
Could this be some kind of soft launch teaser for OpenAI hardware? The timing of this release would make sense, since the company could ship devices to consumers in early 2027. Yet OpenAI has denied any involvement in previous pseudo-advertising for the metal AI hardware, with its shiny headphones and corresponding drive.
Another possibility is that Gebbia’s device is a hardware prototype from another company. From small startups to large tech giants, many companies are hardware development focused on generative AI models despite resounding failures like the Human Ai Pin.
It’s unclear why Gebbia would test a hardware prototype in a public place, such as in San Francisco, where people working in the tech industry are more likely to recognize it. Gebbia is the first person to hold the position of Chief Design Officer, as established by one of the Trump’s executive orders. “The Design Director will help recruit top creative talent, coordinate with executive departments and agencies (agencies), and design innovative solutions,” the order states. The position primarily focuses on updating government websites for better usability.
Anticipation for what kind of material OpenAI will eventually release has been brewing since last May, when Jony Ive and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI announced a partnership to create a unique line of AI-powered devices. It’s a small detail that’s probably just a coincidence, but Ive and Altman also sipped espressos in this announcement video. HAS OpenAI Developer ConferenceI said he hoped the next AI devices would “make us happy and fulfilled, more peaceful, less anxious and less disconnected.”
Despite OpenAI’s past denials, commenters on social media are hoping that this mysterious metal device could be a preview of OpenAI’s hardware or that another powerful startup has convinced a U.S. official to test its prototype.
With all of this in mind, it’s still very possible that this hubbub isn’t about anything at all, and Gebbia is simply wearing a strange, unidentified helmet. Regardless, I’m curious which theory, if any, prevails. In the meantime, I’ll continue to sip espresso and refresh my diet.
