In the world of technology, exaggerating product capabilities is almost the norm. But when one application company managed to collect millions of dollars of the investment for the promise that it would be fully automated through AI, the US Department of Justice accused its former general director of fraud, because it turns out that the actual “AI” was actually several hundred Call Center employees.
The company in question is Nate, which began in 2018 and quickly accumulated over $ 50 million in investments, according to investments TechCrunch. This did because the company’s product, a universal phone application, was to employ artificial intelligence to fully automate the entire purchase process.
Neate’s Gist is that you will see the product you like, click the button, and machine learning sorts the transaction for you – including selecting the appropriate version of the product, payment details and shipping.
However, investigation by Information (By Techspot) showed that AI was not used at all – in fact, only Call Center employees in countries such as Romania and the Philippines furious clicks behind the scenes.
Although there is an element of comedy, the law in many countries around the world has a word on this subject, and the founder of Nate has actually been accused of fraud. The US Department of Justice was less than amused by Nate and its founder and general director at that time, Albert Saniger, last week charging it for “false claims regarding the technology of artificial intelligence of your company.”
In particular, Christopher G. Raia of the FBI had to say about the former general director: “Albert Saniger allegedly deceived investors with the materials of the alleged artificial intelligence of his company, when he secretly employs staff to satisfy the technological illusion of the organs.
Saniger was accused of one number of fraud related to securities and one of the wire fraud, both of which contain a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Along with the study of Nate’s information, the fact that a few years ago was missing money, requiring the sale of most of his assets from him, leaving investors high and desiccated, probably led the App Company to the eyes of the Department of Justice and the FBI.
This is not the first employ they claim that artificial intelligence technology is nothing more than real people who play behind the scenes and it certainly will not be the last. But this is a cautious story, which, as in the case of all things, all marketing claims should be perceived under the edged eye, unless evidence acting as promised is not transmitted.
