> One of the reasons CUDA beat OpenCL was that enough people preferred C++ or Fortran to C and CUDA was happy to accommodate them while OpenCL wasn't.

Nonsense. We're talking about an API. C provides a bare-bones interface that doesn't impose any performance penalty, but just because the API is C nothing forces anyone to implement core functionality in the best tool they can find.

That's like complaining that an air conditioner doesn't cool the room as well as others just because it uses a type F electrical socket instead of a type C plug.