Phoebe Gates' AI Shopping App Phia Allegedly Claimed Unearned Affiliate Sales via Fake Clicks
The AI shopping browser extension Phia, co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, has been accused of using 'cookie stuffing' to claim commissions on sales it didn't generate. Investigations by multiple parties found the app taking credit for referrals it didn't drive, which the company blames on a bug.
Phia, an AI-powered shopping plugin launched last spring and co-founded by Bill Gates' daughter Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, is under scrutiny for allegedly using a deceptive practice called cookie stuffing to collect affiliate commissions on sales it did not initiate. Reports from researcher Ben Edelman, Bloomberg, and Capital One Shopping detailed instances where the browser extension claimed referrals through fake clicks, even taking credit for sales that should have earned commissions for other publishers.
Edelman published a comprehensive breakdown, including a video showing how Phia's affiliate link was invisibly loaded into a second tab on iOS after visiting a merchant's website. This allowed the extension to attach its affiliate code to transactions it didn't drive.
In response, Phia attributed the issues to a bug. A company spokesperson told Bloomberg that within 24 hours of being notified, the team worked overnight to identify and fix the problem, which caused misattribution from a subset of users. According to both Edelman and Bloomberg, the feature enabling this behavior was rolled out in December 2025. The company says the issue has been resolved.
