[SeanLuke]

You seriously think that university research in the US is largely funded or driven by companies? This is utterly wrong.

*Edit*. The question is why the united states has the "best research universities". That is a very general-level question and the Parent made a very general, and very wrong, claim in response. Regardless of whether some specific fields might have more industrial funding than others, it's easy to google the overall portion: and industry funding is quite minor.

https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/UniSource1....

[ubercore]

Depending on the field, it can be. Lots of University-affiliated labs in the medical field get significant industry funding.

[DiggyJohnson]

> is largely funded or driven by companies

GP never implied it was the largest contributor, and yes, depending on your field a significant amount of funding does come from the private sector.

[iancmceachern]

This seems on topic: https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/newsroom/newsn/10721/the-color...

[chronic83027]

> You seriously think that university research in the US is largely funded or driven by companies? This is utterly wrong.

Slow down there bud. Where did I say that?

Unless you’re talking about AI/ML, then yes, university labs receive more from companies, than government funding agencies.

[SeanLuke]

> Slow down there bud. Where did I say that?

If I miserepresented you, then I am sorry.

> Unless you’re talking about AI/ML, then yes, university labs receive more from companies, than government funding agencies.

This is simply untrue. Companies comprise less than 10% of overall university research funding, and AI/ML is far from dominant. It's easy to verify this.