CEO Busted: AI App Founder Charged After Faking Tech With Secret Call Center Workers

In a jaw-dropping twist straight out of a Silicon Valley scam playbook, **Albert Saniger**, the founder and former CEO of AI shopping app **Nate**, has been **charged with defrauding investors** — after it was discovered his so-called “AI” tech was secretly powered by **hundreds of human workers**.
Saniger raised over **$40 million** from investors between 2018 and 2023, claiming his app could complete online purchases with the **power of artificial intelligence**. He promised users a seamless, one-tap shopping experience — all powered by Nate’s proprietary AI.
But behind the curtain? **No AI magic — just people manually checking out orders.**
According to the **U.S. Department of Justice**, Nate never achieved actual AI-driven checkout capabilities. Instead, Saniger outsourced transactions to **a massive call center in the Philippines**, where workers known as “purchasing assistants” quietly processed user purchases.
When even that didn’t scale fast enough, Saniger allegedly deployed bots to mimic human input — all while continuing to claim the system was AI-powered.
The FBI dropped the hammer this week, charging Saniger with **one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud**, each carrying a maximum sentence of **20 years in prison**.
“Saniger allegedly defrauded investors with fabrications… while covertly employing personnel to satisfy the illusion of technological automation,” said FBI Assistant Director Christopher G. Raia.
As AI hype continues to attract billions in funding, cases like Saniger’s are sounding the alarm on **“faux AI” startups** gaming the system to secure investor dollars.

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