Understanding Generic Instantiation

type BaseTreeItem = {
  id: string;
  children: BaseTreeItem[];
};

type TreeItem<Children extends TreeItem = BaseTreeItem> = {
  id: string;
  children: Children[];
  collapsed?: boolean;
};

function attachToRoot<T extends TreeItem>(children: T[]): TreeItem<T> {
  return {
    id: "root",
    children,
  };
}

const root = attachToRoot([
  {
    id: "child",
    children: [],
    collapsed: false,
    marked: true,
  },
]);
/*
root is TreeItem<{
    id: string;
    children: never[];
    collapsed: false;
    marked: boolean;
}>
*/