wild speculation here: both the US and China want Dragonfly for different reasons. each thinks it will benefit from Google's presence in China. China is confi

wild speculation here: both the US and China want Dragonfly for different reasons. each thinks it will benefit from Google's presence in China. China is confident it will control the flow of sensitive information Dragonfly might obtain, and, at the same time, gain valuable insights about how Google operates, paving the way to ultimate replacement of Google in China (and perhaps outside China). plus, in the mean time, Dragonfly gives China some new leverage over Google's current global operations (e.g. calling Taiwan "China", promoting positive news about China to the outside world, etc). the US government intelligence agencies are confident they will gain valuable information about China's society, government, military, and economy through Dragonfly (somehow). they want any inside presence they can get. google is lukewarm on Dragonfly but thinks of it as a necessity. google knows it won't be profitable, but also knows that running Dragonfly gives it leverage to keep the US government's regulatory and anti-monopoly enforcement at bay, protecting its leadership in its most valuable market: the US.