I think the bitter lesson (from 2019, what is now seen as the tail end of an AI winter - probably wasn't at the time) made the most sense in academia during AI

I think the bitter lesson (from 2019, what is now seen as the tail end of an AI winter - probably wasn't at the time) made the most sense in academia during AI winter. There is no academic fame to be had by making something a little better for a limited time. When billions are at stake, there is potentially a lot of money (and utility for customers) to be gained by doing some extra work even if the work is thrown away soon after. Most commercial products contain a ton of extra work to be slightly better than the competition in one area or another. Perhaps we can call this "The sweet dollars lesson".