The punishment Bill Gates’s daughter Phoebe is most likely to face over Phia’s ‘cookie stuffing’ controversy

Phoebe Gates is unlikely to face the maximum 20 years behind bars for potential charges stemming from the “cookie stuffing” allegations engulfing her AI shopping startup Phia -- but she could get walloped with civil lawsuits.

August 13, 2026 1:13 PM ET Bill Gates’ daughter, Phoebe Gates, 23, is accused of “cookie stuffing” at her multibillion-dollar digital startup, Phia.Phia helps shoppers find discount codes and access the lowest pricing on items purchased online during the checkout process. When a shopper uses Phia’s browser extension to

Internal Slack messages show Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni were aware of the practice as far back as December, contradicting the company's public statements

The feature drove about 51% of Phia's June merchandise value and was disabled only after Bloomberg's July inquiry, despite publicly claiming a bug

Phia's founders reportedly knew about software claiming unauthorized sales commissions for months. Internal records suggest this practice, known as cookie stuffing, was active since December. This contradicts the company's public statement blaming a sudden software bug. The alleged strategy generated a substantial port

Phia, the shopping startup co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, is once again under fire for its alleged business practices.