No, post-IPO they will have to (at some point) demonstrate real commercial value. This just gets them to a stage to cash out insiders and (less importantly) get some additional capital to extend their runway.

That's the playbook, right - keep interest/investment flowing until you can figure out the actual commercial value/model. Until then, do whatever you need to keep the hype as high as possible and maximise your runway.

Wouldn’t they have to do that even if they didn’t IPO? Also arguably after IPO hype is even more important - look at tesla valuation.