Phoebe Gates, the youngest daughter of Bill Gates, is once again under the spotlight after private messages, which were released to Bloomberg, seemingly contradicted her previous claim about when she realized about the questionable activities at her fashion shopping start-up named Phia.Phoebe Gates, aged 23, co-founded Phia along with Sophia Kianni back in April 2025.
It is an AI-powered shopping start-up, which compares prices for products both new and used from different sellers and provides the user with discounts.
Phia has gained much recognition and investment from many celebrities, and it has raised over $35 million in seed financing back in May 2026.Currently, Phia is accused of using some of its features inappropriately and making sales credited to their company in order to make money on them through commissions.At the centre of the controversy is a practice known as cookie stuffing.
Online shopping and comparison platforms commonly use cookies to identify which service referred a customer to a retailer.
When a shopper interacts with a service and subsequently makes a purchase, that service can receive an affiliate commission.The problem arises when a cookie is placed without the required user interaction.
