That's not a 'free market' though, especially not by the majority standards in the US. That's the US government attempting to pick a winner by funneling money into startups.

Mind you, it's not something I particularly disagree with, but the only way this works is by imposing regulations on the dominating market forces to prevent them from buying out the competition or using their network advantage to crush them. And regulation is considered the antithesis to a free market.