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How many non-nations have 1.4 trillion dollars hanging around to build such a thing? Even if Apple and Exxon convinced their shareholders to liquidate their companies and put all the resulting money into building this thing, they'd still be half a trillion short.

I didn't say it was practical or likely. I wondered why would anyone build away from land, and this was the only thing I could think of.

If you were to do that, I still don't think it would end up looking anything like the X-Seed. You'd probably build "out, not up" and end up with something like the Raft from Snow Crash.

https://www.seasteading.org/

That's the goal of the Seasteading institute.

It kinda sorta works?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand