VMs aren’t remotely that expensive to run. You basically just need hardware that supports virtualisation and GPU passthrough. The virtual totality of the servers you interact with on the internet are VMs.

These are the non-pressurised systems that would have gotten the least damage most likely.

It’s dying any time soon. They’re aiming for a fully enshittified, infinite vertical scrolling type deal and those can live off inertia and network effect alone. The frontpage has been recycled lowest common denominator content for a while anyway.