Fake accounts drove the DeepSeek AI hype and distorted markets (evai.ai)

We analysed the online hype around DeepSeek and found something unusual: thousands of fake accounts were amplifying the narrative of mass adoption.

This wasn’t just random spam — the accounts showed patterns typical of coordinated bot networks (synchronous posting, recycled avatars, and disproportionate engagement).

The result: investors and the market briefly reacted to a level of “traction” that wasn’t real.

I’m curious how others here think about this:

How can we distinguish genuine user adoption from manufactured buzz in an LLM/AI market that is moving this fast?

What tools or heuristics do you use to check the authenticity of online signals?

(Research details and case breakdown in the post.)

Markets have been vulnerable to bollocks since time began. Bots are even older

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Folks, this is what bad stats look like. All bot accounts look and behave like this. They didn't even do a systematic study to prove their claims against other bot acconts (which are not associated with deepseek at all).

I have no horse in the AI race or in the US-China rivalry, but at the time the hype felt weird. There was so much gloating that rubbed me the wrong way, and frankly, I notice that in plenty of China-related discussions. I always wonder: Why would Westerners, whom I suspect frequent the sites I visit the most, frolic so much that China is #1? Last time I was befuddled was during the India-Pakistan scramble. The comments were only focusing on how a Chinese jet downed a French jet and I thought to myself: There are two nuclear powers going at it and all they talk about is China? The French, too, later claimed that this was a concerted effort by bots.

Seems like another disinformation misinformation

I doubt that the WSJ is influenced by a couple of thousands of bot accounts that are overtly spammy (there is also #Solana spam in the comments):

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/china-ai-deepseek-chatbot-6ac4ad...

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/china-deepseek-ai-nvidia-openai-...

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/deepseek-ai-how-it-works-725cb46...

The Western "AI" influencers and shills are much more sophisticated than that.

“ 3,388 were fake accounts — about 15% of all engagement, double the usual baseline” Double the usual baseline of what? Bots spamming the most popular #OfTheDay?

nobody is immune to propaganda, but this one slid off me like water off of ducks back

What a nonsense article, I encourage people to look at the example tweets they cite.

"Fake accounts" like OP's (evai) who somehow registered in January 2021 and its only activity is this single post today and some AI generated comment to go along with it? Definitely something suspicious but I'm not sure it's DeepSeek here.