Investigations into Phia, the AI shopping app co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, have reportedly found that the browser extension was attaching its affiliate code to purchases it did not directly generate. The app launched last spring and has been accused of using a tactic known as cookie stuffing to claim sales credit through fake clicks, according to multiple reports.
Researcher Ben Edelman, along with Bloomberg and Capital One Shopping, reportedly identified cases in which Phia received referral credit for sales that should have gone to other publishers. Edelman also published a detailed explanation of the mechanism, including a video showing the app’s affiliate link being loaded invisibly into a second tab on iOS after a user visited a merchant website.
Phia said the problem stemmed from a bug. In a statement to Bloomberg, a company spokesperson said the team had been alerted to misattributions affecting a subset of users, then worked overnight to identify, limit and resolve the issue. According to the reports, the feature linked to the behavior was introduced in December 2025.
Source: engadget.com
