Steve Wozniak, co-founder of the technology company Apple.
Thomas Banneyer | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
BARCELONA — Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak criticized the “sledgehammer” approach Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has taken to cut administrative costs and implement mass firings at federal government agencies.
The Department of Government Efficiency — or “DOGE,” for short — is an initiative President Donald Trump set up to optimize the federal government and cut its administrative spending.
“I definitely think that we should look for inefficiencies in government, but pretty much have a huge department that analyzes bit by bit by bit,” Wozniak told CNBC on the sidelines of a tech conference on Tuesday.
But he added, “Just mass firings … it’s not good for a business to run that way,” referring to DOGE’s deep cuts to jobs at several government agencies.”It’s really to find out what works and what doesn’t, make the changes.”
He noted that, though addressing administrative burdens and red tape in government can be a good thing, it’s a process that should be done “more surgically, with a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer.”
‘Bullying’
Wozniak also accused Trump and Musk of “bullying” over the U.S.’ treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Department of Government Efficiency’s mass firings at federal government agencies.
“Elon Musk, I don’t know what got into his head,” Wozniak added. “Sometimes you get so rich at these big companies, and you’re on top — it goes to your head, and you’re the most incredible person in the world and the brightest and you’re going to dictate what others will will do.”
CNBC has reached out to the White House and to Tesla for comment.
Wozniak, who says he has Ukrainian heritage, said that Trump and Musk have mistreated Ukraine and accused them both of being bullies.
“Bullying is the best way to think of it,” he told CNBC. “If you’re in school, the bully is going to force their way on the little guy.”
He noted, “I’ve always favored the little guy over the big guy, and I’ve always favored the consumer of a good over the producer,” he added, in an apparent reference Musk’s electric car firm Tesla.
U.S. relations with Ukraine have soured since Trump took office. American officials have re-established relations with their Russian counterparts — but excluded Ukraine from preliminary talks laying the groundwork for peace. Tensions between Washington and Kyiv recently escalated after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Trump as “living in a Russian disinformation bubble.”
Trump then hit back, calling Ukraine’s leader a “dictator without elections.” Zelenskyy won the 2019 presidential vote Ukraine, which has been unable to hold national polls since its invasion.
‘On the wrong side of Elon’
Wozniak said he also suspects he’s been banned from X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter after several public rants about the quality of Tesla’s vehicles in TV interviews. Musk is the owner of X.
The Apple co-founder said he had not violated any of the social media platform’s rules and has unsuccessfully taken every step to unfreeze his account, which he says has been blocked for the past two to three months.
“Maybe it’s because I was on the wrong side of Elon,” he added.
X was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Wozniak owns several Teslas but says he isn’t a fan of how Musk’s electric vehicles have evolved over time.
“Every step up where they changed things in the car, it got worse and worse and worse, and now it is just miserable for user interface,” he said. “Coming from Apple, user interface, the way you deal with technology, is the most important thing in the world to me. And Tesla is the worst in the world at that.”
Wozniak added that he doesn’t like Tesla’s Full Self Driving or Autopilot driver assistance features, due to concerns over the safety of the systems.
Tesla did not immediately return a CNBC request for comment on Wozniak’s criticisms of the company.