Sigh. This nonsense again? A handy way for you to deflect positive coverage?
You know theyre not, right? Never were. Microsoft paid Vox Media - the parent company who also owns the Verge/Vox/Recode/Eater - money to pit their Internet Explorer tag on their launch documentary as well as the series Human Angle. But if you want to keep pushing that narrative then go ahead but for the record they were never partially funded.
Everyone who bought ads on it 'partially funded' it, which would include Sony and a slew of other companies. It's only ever Microsoft that gets hammered for it lol