Google spun up GCP as a competitor to AWS. Google published the foundational architecture to LLMs in 2017 only to require someone else to take it to market 8 years later. What was Google doing with its lead those 8 years?

I would argue my examples were (much more) fundamentally innovative (Search, Maps, Translate, etc) since GCP was not particularly innovative and Google failed to build a meaningful product even though they invented a revolutionary technology that powers the current AI craze.

But I think we are actually in more agreement than disagreement. A huge company can contain pockets of innovation because it contains pockets of an innovative culture. It's possible we fundamentally agree - it comes down to culture and values, not size and age of a firm.