From a linked article [0]: > AMP’s new speed gains in Google Search are due to several key optimizations that we made to the Google AMP Cache, such as server-s

From a linked article [0]: > AMP’s new speed gains in Google Search are due to several key optimizations that we made to the Google AMP Cache, such as server-side rendering of AMP components, and reducing bandwidth usage from images by 50% without affecting the perceived quality. We also used a compression algorithm called Brotli that Google launched a couple years ago, resulting in a reduced document size by an additional 10% in supported browsers. So, no. Just stripping down the page would not make pages load as quickly as AMP. Then, there's also the fact that you get Google's CDN for free. [0] https://www.ampproject.org/latest/blog/turbocharging-amp/ https://www.ampproject.org/latest/blog/turbocharging-amp/