This article argues that these companies want physicists to handle the abstract math and numerical programming that machine learning requires. But physicists do

This article argues that these companies want physicists to handle the abstract math and numerical programming that machine learning requires. But physicists don't have a monopoly on those skills; they are taught in plenty of engineering disciplines and applied math programs. I would even argue that as long as you can handle the math, you are better off with an education focusing on an engineering discipline so you can learn the design aspects of building large pieces of infrastructure as well.