It's not really... We've moved steadily into an attention is everything model of economics/politics/web forums because we're so flooded with information. Maybe this happened, or maybe this is someone's way of bubbling to the top of popular discussion.

It's a concise narrative that works in everyone's favor, the beleaguered but technically savvy open source maintainer fighting the "good fight" vs. the outstandingly independent and competent "rogue AI."

My money is that both parties want it to be true. Whether it is or not isn't the point.

The risk/reward equation on the attention a matplotlib maintainer gets... makes me think the likelihood of a fake is zero percent.

https://www.fakehatecrimes.org/