You're right that Google has been greatly helped by having what has been considered the most powerful army (the US army) backing them. They wouldn't have had a hope in hell of surpassing the "mom and pop" stage without that.

But I am not sure you are right that it is powerful enough to secure all. I search daily, but cannot remember the last time I used Google. The other AI companies do it better. And I'm not alone in that sentiment. Google's stock price recently took a nosedive because investors have grown quite worried about the competition. Without a sufficiently powerful army stopping them, there will always be someone else ready to try to outdo you.