I like to think of LLVM as a piece of infrastructure, like neutral fiber wiring that any ISP is allowed to use. From that perspective, I’m a lot less concerned about having few options that I am about browsers.

Although the diversity of C/C++ compilers is descending, the number of compiler backends in general is still pretty high (Go, .NET compilers & runtimes, Java compilers & runtimes, JS engines, etc), and LLVM can’t fill all the niches. I don’t think that we’re at a point where research is stifled.