Phia under fire as Bloomberg investigation claims cookie stuffing and unearned sales credit move
Phia, a heavily hyped AI shopping agent startup co-founded by Bill Gates’ daughter, Phoebe Gates, and Sophia Kianni, has been accused of cookie stuffing, which may have seen it receive commissions and credit for sales it did not actually generate, according to a Bloomberg investigation.
The report has led to Phia’s suspension from Impact.com, a well known affiliate and influencer platform.
Founded in 2025, Phia earlier this year announced a $35 million Series A at a $185 million valuation. The round was led by Notable Capital, with participation from Khosla Ventures and returning backer Kleiner Perkins.
“We are a lean, high agency team focused on building the category defining AI commerce platform. If you want to execute with velocity and work on hard problems at the intersection of commerce and consumer AI, Phia is the place to do it,” said Kianni. “This funding allows us to bring in exceptional talent to scale that mission.”
“We built Phia to be a win for shoppers and brands, helping people discover products they love while enabling brands to build stronger customer relationships. By aligning with real consumer intent and transparent preferences, we help partners acquire high intent customers who buy with greater confidence and satisfaction,” added Gates.
The Bloomberg investigation found that if a user shopped at an online retailer, even if they arrived at the site on their own or through another affiliate programme, Phia would open a new tab in the background. During the checkout process, it would override the referral codes from other affiliates and instead inject its own. As a result, it would take credit for and potentially receive a commission on a purchase it didn’t earn.
A Phia spokesperson told Bloomberg that all necessary changes had been made to fix the issue. Bloomberg checked and was able to confirm this, although it’s unclear if the fix was enough to placate retailers and affiliate partners that work with Phia.
The company did not respond to our request for comment.
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Shopping agents will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
