Is Jev being astroturfed on HN? It certainly feels like it. It's a middling product with virtually no moat (but great marketing).
Why is it a middling product? Most clones don’t approach its performance, and it solves a specific problem well in a way that was awkward and ignored by most frontier labs.
There have been a lot of posts/comments claiming "Jev-like models" but that's more of an shorthand for decision models, not astroturfing.
distribution is a moat
Yes, it's astroturfed everywhere (like X and reddit).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNgQtzEl4lY
Jev is used as an example of a successful marketing launch where they worked with many X "creators" prior to its release, so that all the creators would repost to put it to the top of everyone's feed. Then, over the following days they'd repost so it maintained momentum.
See: doomers.ai, clickstrike, growth matrix, etc. They use coordinated engagement, paid influencer networks, customized messaging, etc.
Jev isn't a terrible product, but it's way overhyped.