Phoebe Gates appears in NYC after Phia startup faces cookie-stuffing allegations

Phoebe Gates stepped onto a NYC helipad on Sunday, dressed in a Phia sweatshirt and escorted by security, after the startup she co-founded was implicated in a cookie-stuffing scandal. The digital personal-shopping assistant, launched with fellow Stanford graduate Sophia Kianni, allegedly inserted tracking cookies into checkout processes for major retailers such as Nike, Gap and Nordstrom, claiming credit for sales it did not generate.

A Bloomberg investigation traced the practice back to at least December and suggested it accounted for most of Phia’s revenue. The scheme carries a maximum federal sentence of 20 years, though analysts expect monetary fines rather than jail time for the young entrepreneur, daughter of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Phia’s spokesperson said the problematic features were removed on July 7 and that the company is reversing any misattributed commissions while hiring a compliance chief. The appearance marks Phoebe Gates’s first public sighting since the allegations emerged.