Possibly, but I think something else could be happening at large companies that are fearful of missing a sea change. Managers will be wary of exactly the sort

Possibly, but I think something else could be happening at large companies that are fearful of missing a sea change. Managers will be wary of exactly the sort of motivations for resistance that you mentioned. So they will try to counteract that by putting in place quantitative metrics to incentivise or even force AI use where it doesn't necessarily make sense. This could cause resentment and fear irrespective of the real benefits that AI undboutedly brings. This is complete speculation on my part where Google specifically is concerned. It's just something I think will inevitably happen at some companies.