CEO Faces Fraud Charge After AI Shopping App Allegedly Found Using Humans

The Department of Justice has charged a founder with defrauding investors after his AI shopping app was allegedly discovered to be nothing more than a couple of people in a trench coat. Nate offered a mobile app that promised users a one-click checkout experience on any e-commerce website “without human intervention,” effectively meaning they could store their credit card and shipping information with Nate instead of inputting it on each website. But prosecutors say the company relied almost entirely on human workers to complete checkouts. Oops. According to the indictment, Nate’s actual automation rate was effectively zero. Instead, the company relied on hundreds of human contractors in a call center located in the Philippines to actually complete transactions. Maybe by ‘AI’, the company was actually referring to “Asian Intelligence.” Nate raised over $50 million between 2018 and 2021. The Information first reported on the allegations against Nate and its CEO Albert Saniger back in ... Read full article.