Academic compensation is different than what you’d find elsewhere on Hacker News. Likewise, academic performance is evaluated differently than what you’d expect as a software engineer. Ultimately, everyone cares about scientific impact so academic compensation relies on name and recognition far more than money. Personally, I care about the performance of the researchers (i.e., their publications), the institution’s larger research program (and their resources), the institution’s commitment to my research (e.g., fellowships and tenure). I want to do science for my entire career so I prioritize longevity rather than a quick buck.

I’ll add, the lack of compute resources was a far worse problem early in the deep learning research boom, but the market has adjusted and most researchers are able to be productive with existing compute infrastructure.