Bill Gates daughter’s shopping app accused of taking credit for others' sales; company responds
Phia, an AI-driven shopping startup co-founded by Phoebe Gates, was accused of 'cookie stuffing' to claim affiliate commissions for sales it did not influence. Following an investigation by Bloomberg, the company acknowledged the technical error and implemented a fix, though affiliate networks have paused their partnerships pending further review.
Why it matters
The controversy underscores the scrutiny high-profile founders face and the importance of transparency in AI-driven affiliate marketing models.
Phia, the online shopping startup co-founded by Phoebe Gates, daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is facing scrutiny after an independent researcher Ben Edelman accused it of taking credit for online sales it did not drive. According to a report by Bloomberg, the publication also conducted a testing a found that Phia’s browser extension opened background tabs during checkout, silently inserting its own affiliate code to override legitimate referrals and this practice is known as cookie stuffing. The report further adds that Bloomberg testing Phia’s extension across more than 50 retail websites and observed background tabs opening automatically to set Phia’s affiliate code, even when users had not interacted with the tool.
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