The Pixel is a good phone to test the latest android features for development purposes. I would imagine to some degree they are trying to target developers interested in testing software by offering the ability to unlock and relock the bootloader. This fosters a vibrant developer community and encourages innovation. Certain things can be tested in an android emulator but it helps to have a real device to test as well.
Pixels often ship with hardware features that other phones later include. For example Pixel 8 was the first phone with hardware memory tagging extensions and if developers wanted to test that feature they would buy a Pixel first and then use that experience with the devices their company is manufacturing. Pixels are often released with new android versions that implement android features and APIs the way they were intended to work. There have been cases of OEMs releasing devices with broken implementations of standard android features.
Pixel was the first phone with Strongbox as well. Additionally, It was the first android phone with satellite connectivity.
It also attracts the segment of the market that just enjoys modifying their phones as well. So basically they are targeting the power user community and developers. Despite the Pixel having the ability to install custom verified boot keys and custom OSs, Google knows that very few users use those features so it does not cut into their Play Store and Play Services market share very much.
I was harassed and stalked by people on reddit targeting people in disability related subs especially in the autism subs. I reported them and their sockpuppet accounts and nothing was done because reddit sent a message saying that it did not break their rules. When I told one of the stalkers alts to leave me alone several times I was flagged by a bot as harassing them. I appealed it but reddit did not care.
Another time I suggested to someone a telemedicine quit smoking service may help them and that was being flagged as "unauthorized transaction of prohibited goods". They banned me for 7 days. They never even told me what comment I made but that was the only comment I could think of that might have caused it. Reddit themselves advertises these very same telemedicine clinics and you have to go through a doctor to obtain any medication, I was not sourcing any products. I sent them an email basically begging them to tell me specifically what I said that was wrong but they never replied. I said at the end "How am I supposed to learn from this if you won't even tell me what comment was against the rules and clearly explain it to me?". At least on most lemmy instances there is a modlog with what comment broke the rules and specifically why.
Meanwhile I see tons of subs and users doing way more than what I did. This coupled with the fact that I am part of the blind community and reddit banned the third party client I was using that had far better features for disabled users really turned me away from wanting to keep posting on reddit. Their global moderators and a lot of the subreddit and chat moderators are sometimes just straight up evil people who don't care about actual victims of abuse and harassment. I have begun to really limit my use of reddit because of this biased behavior.