I assume at this point the tech giants are way past what I ever dreamed of with deep learning

Perhaps. Perhaps not. A lot of what we hear is hype. Fevered imaginations of those not in the know taken to be representative of actual status.

Also as with any project if you get too close to it and pound on it over and over again you can lose sight of opportunities outside of your narrow vision. It can actually slow down progress.

People like to act as though DARPA and other departments are the progenitors of about any new idea. I don't agree with this. I do think they create new ideas, however I don't think they represent even a small fraction of the new ideas. I do think they keep their eyes open though and pounce on anything that they see the benefits of.

I'll check out the Selfish Ledger bit. I've been less active on Steemit the past three days.