Y’all probably don’t know the tremendous scale and scope of unprecedented cooperation that was required to make it happen, especially in the 1980s. US Military and Universities and government funded scientific institutions all played their part in bringing together many smaller networks into the internet.
I first got on in 1989 and the finishing touches were put onto the internet around 1992/1993.
At that point, it got the notice of politicians who wanted the glory and decided to involve corporations but it was already developed by then and they started working on Internet2, which we don’t have access to but it’s been in development since 1995