That's what this is. "Containers" implemented as actual VMs.

1. So you can run any container image that someone made into a Docker container instead of building your own VM images

2. So you can run in Kubernetes and use the Kubernetes API, alongside any non-VM Pods and many other features in your Kubernetes cluster

3. Because traditional hypervisors have a higher overhead cost than the microVMs used by Kata and Firecracker

4. Because traditional hypervisors have a longer startup time (e.g. Firecracker is used by Amazon to run Lambda functions)

The API for containers is widely used.

They are VMs, but without the annoying "pet" UX.