Albert Saniger, founder of the so-called AI-driven shopping app Nate, has been charged with defrauding investors by masking a human-powered operation as artificial intelligence. The US Department of Justice alleges Saniger raised over $50 million by claiming his app used proprietary AI to automate online purchases. In reality, call centre workers in the Philippines completed each transaction manually. Nate ran out of funds by early 2023, leaving investors with near-total losses.

A Spanish-born entrepreneur who once promised a “one-tap” AI shopping experience is now facing serious fraud charges in the United States. Albert Saniger, founder and former CEO of Nate, a US-based fintech startup, has been accused of deceiving investors by claiming his app used cutting-edge artificial intelligence. In truth, the app depended on teams of human workers in the Philippines to manually complete user transactions.

The charges, announced by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) on Wednesday, allege that Saniger built a false narrative around innovation to lure over $50 million in funding. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

"Magic shopping app" that wasn't

Nate, which Saniger launched in 2018 after working briefly at Amazon in London, was marketed as a universal shopping cart app. Its pitch was bold: users could browse any e-commerce site and buy products with a single tap, skipping the checkout entirely. The app claimed to handle everything—from choosing sizes to entering...

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