Celebrity4 min(s) read
Published 12:53 17 Aug 2026 GMT
Phoebe Gates, the youngest child of billionaire Bill Gates, could be taken to court if the allegations made against her AI shopping assistant are proved to be true.
The 23-year-old is under the spotlight after allegations have been made that her AI shopping assistant, Phia, has been engaged in 'cookie stuffing'.
An expert has now delved into what this may mean if the allegations are proven to be true.
'Cookie stuffing' is an illegal practice where unrelated tracking cookies are inserted into a user's browser by an affiliate marketer, without their consent.
According to Branch, this happens after a user views a page or clicks on a single link.
Essentially, secretly planting cookies is a method of getting credit for somebody else's online sale, and now Phoebe and her friend Sophia Kianni could be found guilty of doing so.
Phia, founded by Phoebe and Sophia, compares fashion and retail prices across websites, and searches for discount codes and second-hand alternatives.
But just last month, Bloomberg released a report claiming that the AI company received attribution for purchases it had not driven, and alleged that it was involved in cookie stuffing.
The company told the outlet that they were made aware of the misattributions 'in the last 24 hours'.
Phia have since released a statement to PEOPLE, reading: “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.
“We are now continuing to connect our users with items and offers from thousands of brand partners,” the spokesperson continued. “We will learn from this and want to ensure our users have the best possible shopping experience, with features like our new digital closet and more to come.”
Star Kashman, the founding partner of Cyber Law Firm, explained how much prison time could be dished out for the offense.
The legal expert explained to the New York Post: “Wire fraud would have to paint a picture of a knowing scheme that is organized to defraud these individuals (affiliates, businesses, etc.) of their money."
He added that 'wire fraud carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison,' though prosecutors would need to prove that the founders (Phoebe and Sophia) 'knowingly participated in a scheme to defraud'.
Kashman admitted that the most likely penalties would be financial for the pair, highlighting that it would be 'very unlikely' for the young entrepreneurs to be imprisoned for 20 years for the allegations on a first offence.
But if the allegations are true, then there is a possibility that they would be taken to court, but as it stands, Phia has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
The company also disputed aspects of Bloomberg’s findings.
Ariel Givner, an IP & corporate attorney in FinTech and the founder of Givner Law, took to X to speak about the report.
She explained that cookie stuffing is essentially 'treated as federal wire fraud in US courts', and that 'there’s a possibility of a max penalty of up to 20 years prison + fines/restitution.'
The expert also spoke about punishments which befell previous culprits, naming some examples.
She said that Shawn Hogan, who was a 'top eBay affiliate', pleaded guilty and received five months federal prison time and a $25,000 fine.
Brian Dunning, who was the owner of online marketing company Kessler’s Flying Circus, pleaded guilty and was punished with a 15-month prison sentence.
