Doublespeed Deploys 4,500 Phones to Replace Human Influencers With AI Bots
Updated
Updated · New York Magazine · Jul 1
Doublespeed Deploys 4,500 Phones to Replace Human Influencers With AI Bots
1 articles · Updated · New York Magazine · Jul 1
Summary
$450 a month buys clients AI-run TikTok accounts on Doublespeed’s 4,500-phone network, which the startup says can create and post marketing content without relying on human influencers.
1,200 phones were running in its Los Angeles house when visited, while the rest sat off-site; each handset is warmed up to mimic real users and evade TikTok’s bot-detection systems.
6,000 companies joined the waiting list within two months, and founder Zuhair Lakhani says the business briefly topped a $1 million annualized run rate after backing from Andreessen Horowitz’s Speedrun program.
TikTok says it uses multiple signals to detect inauthentic behavior, while Doublespeed’s unlabeled AI ads and platform-rule violations expose it to scrutiny even as clients shift marketing budgets toward the service.
Phone farms once associated with troll operations and click farms are being repurposed for mainstream marketing, pointing to a broader push to automate virality and further blur what is human online.
When AI can manufacture viral trends on demand, what is the future of genuine online culture?
With AI bot farms designed to evade detection, are new federal transparency laws already obsolete?
1,000 Phones, One Breach: How Doublespeed’s AI Influencer Network Exposed the Crisis of Online Authenticity and Trust
Overview
In late 2025, a hacker discovered and reported a critical vulnerability in Doublespeed, a startup running a vast network of AI-generated Instagram influencers. Despite the warning, Doublespeed left the flaw unaddressed, allowing the hacker to maintain access to their backend systems and 'phone farm' for at least seven weeks. The hacker eventually exposed the operation publicly in December, revealing the true scale of Doublespeed’s activities. The company did not respond to the breach or issue any public statement, highlighting serious gaps in security and transparency that fueled wider concerns about trust and authenticity in digital marketing.