Phia, the shopping app co-founded by Bill Gates's daughter Phoebe Gates, 23, has been accused of wrongfully taking credit for online sales it didn't actually drive.
The AI-powered browser extension allegedly registered what was described as 'fake clicks' on retail websites, ultimately claiming commission on sales the company never earned, according to a report from Bloomberg. The glitch, which Phia has since fixed, was reportedly introduced to the shopping platform's source code in December.
Phia is an app designed to help shoppers get the best bang for their buck by comparing prices of clothing and accessories from over 40,000 retail and resale sites.
The start-up company works by relying on affiliate revenue, as Phia receives a commission from any sale purchased using their browser extension.
However, an investigation by Bloomberg, Capital One Shopping and Ben Edelman, an independent researcher, discovered that Phia's app had opened a background tab and injected its own referral code during the checkout process without any user interaction.
