This is common at any Big Tech company. There are dozens to hundreds of “prototype” projects going at any point in time, and while working on them you get paid

This is common at any Big Tech company. There are dozens to hundreds of “prototype” projects going at any point in time, and while working on them you get paid a ton and have excellent job security, but no promise that your work will see the light of day. It’s not a terrible deal, and it’s a great learning experience. For some, it’s a great entire career. For others the not really shipping your work part is hard and thus it’s only good for a season of life, to learn and to pile up savings. But that can set you up well for leaving and trying your own startup later.