The real holdback for FPGA's and indeed any development of software is and how easy is it to translate requirments into reality. That is an area that general C

The real holdback for FPGA's and indeed any development of software is and how easy is it to translate requirments into reality. That is an area that general CPU's hold over FPGA's, but that will only narrow as it has over time. Just some distance to go. But then Intel recently brought a FPGA company and with that, they can cover any niche area's today as well as any expansion tomorrow in that area. As for AI, that needs to run upon hardware and whilst Intel is known for hardware they equaly do software and like most large companies. Often easier to let the little chaps do all the work, pick the best before it becomes big and buy them. Which can be cheaper than starting from scratch yourself and reduce the financial risks, whilst still getting in on the returns using smaller companies as research for a much more diverse skills and talents along with increased financial budget combined than any large company could dream of expending. So in some area's it is easier to have in house skills that can keep track of what everybody else is doing in that area and how it is progressing so that you are ready to swoop in and borg that lego block for your collection and reduce your financial risk greatly. More so in area's that are still very much maturing.