I think the operators are learning how to hype-edge. You find that sweet spot between promising and 'not just there yet' where you can take lots of investments and iterate forward just enough to keep it going.

It doesn't matter if it can't actually 'get there' as long as people still believe it can.

Come to think about it, a socioeconomic system dependent on population and economic growth is at a fundamental level driven by this balancing act: "We can solve every problem if we just forge ahead and keep enlarging the base of the pyramid - keep reproducing, keep investing, keep expanding the infrastructure".