(https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/22/alphabet-goog-stock-ai-departures.html) is being framed as existential, but this is backwards. The real signal is optionality—when your best people can exit to venture-backed labs and potentially own equity in something that gets acquired or goes public, staying at a $2T conglomerate where you're one of 190,000 employees becomes a career tax. Google's research footprint is *still* massive.

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