I work at an industrial lab so haven't technically left academia. What "unrestricted work on fundamental science do you speak of"? Apart from a few groups at MS

I work at an industrial lab so haven't technically left academia. What "unrestricted work on fundamental science do you speak of"? Apart from a few groups at MSR, I don't believe this happens much in industrial labs these days. I do miss my grad school days in case you are wondering :p