His essay seemed to say that the cautious incrementalism and turf-buildout that succeeds well with NSF (where most of the funding for academic ML research comes from), turned out to be less exciting than riding upon the Google juggernaut.
It's hard to argue with that. The applicability of ML technology has attracted companies with deep pockets, and really changed the landscape of research.
His essay seemed to say that the cautious incrementalism and turf-buildout that succeeds well with NSF (where most of the funding for academic ML research comes from), turned out to be less exciting than riding upon the Google juggernaut.
It's hard to argue with that. The applicability of ML technology has attracted companies with deep pockets, and really changed the landscape of research.