A US start-up that said it used AI to auto-fill customer information in transactions was actually using workers in the Philippines to manually process much of the data.

Billing itself as an 'artificial intelligence startup' that used AI to automatically fill out shoppers’ contact and payment information on retailers’ websites for USD 1 per transaction, Nate had racked in over USD 50 million from venture capital companies Coatue Management and Forerunner Ventures.

However, behind the scenes, Nate had been using "hundreds" of hired workers in the Philippines to manually enter data on retailers’ sites for over 60 percent of the transactions it facilitated in 2021, according to The Information. 

The company had also failed to disclose its limitations to prospective investors, according to a person close to its fundraising discussions.