... for services rendered, at a price no one else is able to compete. Or so I've heard. Correct me if I'm wrong(the PR machines are not to be underestimated). Or don't, your choice.

I wouldn't call it buzzwordy hand waving, mostly because it actually means something intelligible. But regardless, so what if SpaceX gets the majority of its money from the government? It's operating as a private entity and it's revolutionizing space travel, and the funding coming from the US government is not for research and development, but for actual services rendered. Similarly, do you believe that the next giant leap forward in general AI is going to come from government? It may, but it also might come from the private sector. I'd say that the same goes for the future's version of Arpanet (something the public doesn't see coming but eventually changes everything).

Because technology enables small teams to make big changes that were once only within reach for large entities like the government, the idea that markets don't have the strategic intelligence to do big, long-term thinking, just seems bunk to me. Also, look at the AI lab announced by Altman and Musk, or look at YC's new long-term research lab project. These could conceivably produce the next Arpanet, don't you think?