Without Android, Kotlin would just be Cool Alternative Language #4721. Java has been a safe, non-controversial pick for decades. Who is going to endorse writing

Without Android, Kotlin would just be Cool Alternative Language #4721. Java has been a safe, non-controversial pick for decades. Who is going to endorse writing their hot new project in it just because some IDE uses it? When Google says they support a technology going forward, that gives the project some cache it otherwise never would have received.