Detail: Malaysia hired maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity to do the actual searching. It's a $70M, “no-find-no-fee” deal, for 18 months of search work.
Though if that's the real price - I wonder why this wasn't done years ago, with financing from some combination of crowdsourcing and exclusive media rights contracts. By Hollywood and broadcast industry standards, $70M is really not big money.
The same firm did that in 2018 in a different area but with a similar contract.
> On 17 October 2017, Malaysia received proposals from three companies (including the Dutch company Fugro and the U.S. salvage company Ocean Infinity) offering to continue the search for the aircraft.[237] Later that month, the Malaysian government released a statement that it was in discussion with Ocean Infinity to make a further underwater search in the area to the north of the 2016 search, on the basis of no fee if the wreckage was not found.[238] The search started on 22 January and ended in June 2018 without finding the aircraft.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5K9HBiJpuk