Rust was always a corporation/FAANG language when you looked at contributors and sponsors, so it's probably not real reason, I mean it is clear async was rushed out for AWS/Amazon and everyone celebrated it nonetheless.
People like to hide motives
People like to hide motives
However, this is very strongly refuted. See [edit: warning: abrasively worded post by withoutboats] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26410487