Bell Labs are also ran by the scientists themselves, with AT&T largely not caring because it has to spend that money anyways. You can get a good grip of what's

Bell Labs are also ran by the scientists themselves, with AT&T largely not caring because it has to spend that money anyways. You can get a good grip of what's going on in the lab in Brian Kernighan's <Unix, A history and a memoir>. It's a good read.