Have you also had the dream of working for a top-secret agency and saving the world while having a seemingly normal cover of a high school lad? Well, this dream has come true by Elon Musk for GenZ tech wizards of the USA. Elon Musk’s creeping influence over the US federal government infrastructure has put a group of young engineers, who apparently are barely out of college, at the epicentre of a major political controversy. Reports from WIRED and The Free Press have identified a handful of men, all in their early twenties, who have been placed in key positions within Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Tasked with “modernising” federal agencies, these recruits have little to no government experience, yet they have gained access to critical systems across agencies like the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the General Services Administration (GSA).
From the thorough investigations conducted by media organisations, the young men have been identified as:
Akash Bobba
Akash Bobba is a 22-year-old graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School. After completing his primary education, Bobba went on to study in UC Berkeley’s prestigious Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology program. His now-deleted LinkedIn profile indicated that after graduating, he worked as an investment intern at Bridgewater Associates and previously held internships at both Meta and Palantir, the data analytics firm co-founded by Peter Thiel.
Luke Farritor
Luke Farritor, a 23-year-old Lincoln native and former University of Nebraska-Lincoln student, has been identified as one of six young engineers working on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project. A former intern at SpaceX, Farritor gained international recognition in 2023 when he co-won a $700,000 prize for using AI to decipher a 2,000-year-old scroll buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He reportedly left UNL before graduating to work for a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and later earned a fellowship from a foundation linked to tech investor Peter Thiel, a key Trump supporter.
Ethan Shaotran
Shaotran, a senior at Harvard University and founder of the AI-driven startup Energize AI, is among the young engineers working on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. With expertise in computing and autonomous vehicles, he brings a strong technical background to the project. He has also been involved in Musk’s other ventures, including participating in the xAI hackathon. Known for applying AI to real-world challenges, Ethan is seen as a key player in the government reform effort.
Gavin Kliger
Gavin Kliger, a 25 year old UC Berkeley graduate with a background in software engineering, has emerged as both a tech expert and a vocal political commentator. Before joining DOGE, he worked at AI startup Databrinks and Twitter, but his influence extends beyond coding. His online writings champion figures like Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth while criticising government institutions, positioning himself as a critic of entrenched power. Kliger claims to have left a lucrative career to pursue what he sees as a mission to reform government, a move he publicly affirmed by amplifying Elon Musk’s praise of DOGE’s engineering team.
Edward Coristine
Coristine is the youngest of them all at 19 years, is a technologist with a passion for innovation, has already built an impressive resume despite his age. A recent high school graduate who attended Northeastern University, he previously interned at Musk’s Neuralink and is now listed as an “expert” at OPM. His entrepreneurial spirit is evident in the multiple tech ventures he launched in Connecticut, including Tesla.Sexy LLC. According to media reports, Coristine has also contributed to Neuralink’s codebase, showcasing his technical skills and deep interest in cutting-edge technology.
Gautier Cole Killian
Gautier Cole Killian, a 24-year-old with a background in math and computer science from McGill University, has emerged as a key figure in Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative, where he is listed as a volunteer. Despite his lack of prior government experience, Killian’s involvement has drawn attention due to DOGE’s controversial role in restructuring federal agencies and accessing sensitive data. Previously, he worked as an engineer at Jump Trading, a firm specialising in algorithmic finance, and researched decentralised autonomous organisations during his time at McGill. Following recent media scrutiny, his online presence has largely disappeared, but internal records reviewed by WIRED indicate he maintains an active DOGE email and is listed as a “Federal Detailee” at the Environmental Protection Agency.
What has DOGE done till now?
Since its formation, DOGE has transformed itself from a vague advisory to wielding significant influence over federal agencies which has raised alarms about accountability and competence amongst the public. The group played a significant role in shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Despite aiming to regularise, DOGE continues to recruit directly through Musk’s social media platform, X, asking applicants to send their résumés for unpaid positions that demand “80+ hour workweeks” and promise “lots of enemies.” With no clear structure or oversight, the initiative operates on Musk’s vision of slashing government spending, with some members publicly celebrating mass layoffs as a victory against bureaucracy.