# Hack Reveals the a16z-Backed Phone Farm Flooding TikTok With AI Influencers

Source: https://www.404media.co/hack-reveals-the-a16z-backed-phone-farm-flooding-tiktok-with-ai-influencers
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Hack-Reveals-the-a16z-Backed-Phone-Farm-Flooding-TikTok-With-AI-Influencers?index=0x6942c40fd05146e23bb4964cc5bdde87d110e5f13515da7df7a7dde0daa2771fb35b909a
Submitted by misha on 2025-12-17 UTC, 1 upvote, 0 comments

## Summary

Doublespeed, a startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), has been hacked, exposing a phone farm that manages at least hundreds of AI-generated social media accounts used to promote products. The hack reveals which products these accounts promote, often without the required disclosure that they are advertisements, and gave the hacker control of more than 1,000 smartphones that power the company. The hacker, who asked for anonymity because he feared retaliation, said he reported the vulnerability to Doublespeed on October 31 and still has access to the company's backend, including the phone farm. Doublespeed did not respond to a request for comment.

## Article

Doublespeed, a startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) that uses a phone farm to manage at least hundreds of AI-generated social media accounts and promote products has been hacked. The hack reveals what products the AI-generated accounts are promoting, often without the required disclosure that these are advertisements, and allowed the hacker to take control of more than 1,000 smartphones that power the company.

The hacker, who asked for anonymity because he feared retaliation from the company, said he reported the vulnerability to Doublespeed on October 31. At the time of writing, the hacker said he still has access to the company’s backend, including the phone farm itself. Doublespeed did not respond to a request for comment.

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