When some software is being built the constraints are much more rigorous, but it all comes down to the organization. The guidelines established by NASA for their space program are a good example of rigorous requirements. Boeing should not be unfamiliar with this concept and can certainly afford to do this properly. This move was motivated purely by greed.
It's worth pointing out that any valid JSON value is a valid JSON document. There is no requirement or guarantee that an array or an object are the top-level value in a JSON document.
"I am a valid JSON document. So is the Number below, and in fact every line below this line."
Maybe. The elephants being born without tusks due to ivory hunting pressures changing reproduction dynamics are likely at a disadvantage overall, but in the short term they will survive. Having tusks may be objectively better, but right now it'll get you killed.