Short version of the article: A few startups in the self-driving space were recently acquired [by Uber,GM,Google,...] for $10M per head.
It's common to see successful tech startups selling for $1M per head. The extremes go for a lot more money. Nothing new. Way too much clickbait in the title.
It's simple economics. Once the problem is solved, or at a certain threshold, the value for other acquisitions begins to plummet. The others begin to realize far less diminishing returns relative to their investment.
Edit: This also brings the other aspect of Western educational system in regards to monopolization resource, where they strictly control the education of AI engrs to control the price per head and market.
The other problem is also the US social environment, social conflicts and 'wars', where it is far from conducive to support the level of education necessary for highly skilled STEM grads at the cutting edge. The environment itself is conducive to a restricted output of qualified engineers, researchers, scientists, etc needed for the pace and expansion. Mind you, a significant amount of these grads are competing for a negligible amount of resource to succeed,and this is the system and environment the US prefers to culture their grads.
It is cheaper in the short term just to steal the skill and discoveries from other countries with promises of wealth, or other questionable means.
10m per head is far, far cheaper, even if CM is the only output 'available immediately'.
It's common to see successful tech startups selling for $1M per head. The extremes go for a lot more money. Nothing new. Way too much clickbait in the title.