Startup Phia Accused of Improperly Inserting Affiliate Codes

Phia, an AI-powered shopping browser extension co-founded by Sophia Kianni and Phoebe Gates, daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is under scrutiny following allegations of improper business practices. Independent testing has suggested the extension may have automatically inserted its own affiliate codes during user checkout processes.

According to independent tests conducted by Bloomberg, Capital One Shopping, and researcher Ben Edelman, Phia has allegedly generated affiliate clicks on retail websites with minimal user interaction. Reports indicate that Phia opened a background tab and inserted its own referral code, sometimes overriding legitimate referrals from other publishers.

A spokesperson for Capital One Shopping stated that their testing and disclosure of Phia’s conduct reflected their commitment to platform integrity. "When technical anomalies or concerning practices are identified, we view it as our responsibility to disclose those observations directly and responsibly to our partners," the spokesperson said.

Following Bloomberg's publication of its findings and contact with Phia, subsequent testing revealed that the company had ceased automatically claiming affiliate credit in all instances where the behavior had previously occurred. Ben Edelman, who reviewed Phia's publicly available code, concluded that the practice appeared intentional, designed to claim commissions on user purchases without users having clicked on Phia's own affiliate links.