There’s no question that Google was dedicating itself to AI work

 There’s no question that Google was dedicating itself to AI work 

just like everyone else. Over the next few years, it made serious strides in designing AI computation hardware, built useful platforms for developers to test and develop machine learning models and published tons of papers on everything from esoteric model tweaks to more recognizable things like voice synthesis.

But there was a problem. I’ve heard this anecdotally from Google employees and others in the industry, but there’s a sort of feudal aspect to the way the company works: Getting your project under the

 auspices of an existing major product, like Maps or Assistant, is a reliable way to get money and staff. And so it seems that despite having hoarded up many of the best AI researchers in the world, their talent was channeled into the ruts of corporate strategy.