The amount of capital that rests on releases like these is insane. The incentive is just too high to not manipulate places like HN, which have a surprising amount of sway with tech industry sentiment.
Edit: Check out how my claim against astroturfing did, one of the first comments posted on the primary release blog: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45967999#45968295. Could always be over-eager Google employees, or maybe the tech community really is this excited for the Gemini 3 release. Seems fishy to me, though...
People are likely downvoting you because allegations of astroturfing aren't allowed, you are supposed to just report what you suspect.
>Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents, and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data.
That's a good point, although given I'd never seen this rule I question if it is commonly known enough that it is actually the reason I'm being downvoted.
Do you not think what has happened today is suspicious? The Gemini 3 posts are, to my eye, out of hand..
