The point GP is making is that Google's technology has been (at least to a non-expert) on-par with the external things. Why would they acquire something they already have?
My point was that this public relations issue could have been easily solved. A tech first company can easily get PR to solve it. That they didn't implies they they are past their prime. This is Xerox-Apple thing again
I still don't follow. "We should publish a harmful product when instead we could continue refining and instead publish a good product at the same time as everyone else" is a good strategy.
This is ultimately only an issue if you think Google's models are significantly worse (and that's related to the lack of public testing). That assumption doesn't seem justified.
