Shopping App From Bill Gates’ Daughter Phoebe Accused of Scheme That Could Result in Prison Time

Bill Gates‘ daughter Phoebe Gates could potentially face legal trouble.

The 23-year-old — who cofounded the AI shopping app Phia with Sophia Kianni — has come under fire after a Tuesday, August 11, Bloomberg report claimed she was aware the company was allegedly taking credit for sales it didn’t drive.

Bloomberg initially reported last month that the app appeared to be “cookie stuffing,” a deceptive tactic in which the app allegedly opened a background tab and put in its own referral code even if it wasn’t tied to a sale.

At the time, a Phia spokesperson said the issue was fixed, explaining in a statement, “As soon as we were notified, our team worked overnight to identify, mitigate, and has since resolved the issue.”

However, the new report from the financial news outlet stated that the app’s founders were aware this was happening since at least December, according to internal Slack communications as well as people familiar with the matter.

In a statement to People, a Phia spokesperson said, “We will learn from this and want to ensure our users have the best possible shopping experience.”

However, they did not acknowledge the latest accusations.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg shared their report on X, to which attorney Ariel Givner — founder of Givner Law, a corporate firm specializing in fintech and digital assets — explained more about “cookie stuffing” and its consequences.

“On a simple level, it’s automatically injecting affiliate tracking cookies to claim commissions on sales you didn’t drive,” she wrote on X. “It’s typically treated as federal wire fraud in US courts.”

“There’s a possibility of a max penalty of up to 20 years prison + fines/restitution,” Givner added.

Neither Phoebe nor cofounder Kianni have appeared to publicly address the latest reports.

In a statement to Bloomberg, a Phia spokesperson said, “Any features causing misattributions were immediately removed over a month ago on July 7. We are reviewing every transaction, we are fully committed to and have already begun issuing all transaction reversals to brand partners as a result of any misattribution, and we are hiring a head of compliance to make sure something like this never happens again.”