> Google cannot possibly hope to compete with these other companies...

It's possible Google has intentionally decided to take a more conservative blended approach than purely competing at the bleeding edge of the frontier. If so, they obviously have no incentive to state it publicly but the recent departures and financials are consistent with the idea. It also makes sense that a company so much bigger, longer-term and (somewhat) more diversified than pure-play frontier labs would play the game to align with their strengths (capital, balance sheet, breadth, etc).

In their position, why not take an 'arms supplier' strategy in the near-term while drafting behind the frontier labs as a fast follower in AI, essentially betting the AI race is more akin to the Indy 500 than a quarter-mile drag race. If they're wrong and it IS more like a drag race, Google is in a better position to absorb and adjust than a frontier lab, for whom current valuations and capex spending requirements nearly require this to be a relatively short, winner-take-all race.