"A software developer could write a proof-of-concept search engine in a few days; Alphabet employs 130,000 people "
This suggests that those 130,000 people are all software developers, and that they all work on the search engine. I think clarifying that ambiguity is a pretty appropriate response.
The reason Alphabet employees 130K people isn't because "running a search engine at scale" requires it, it's because they're in 30 other lines of business.
"A software developer could write a proof-of-concept search engine in a few days; Alphabet employs 130,000 people "
This suggests that those 130,000 people are all software developers, and that they all work on the search engine. I think clarifying that ambiguity is a pretty appropriate response.
The reason Alphabet employees 130K people isn't because "running a search engine at scale" requires it, it's because they're in 30 other lines of business.