The reason why you're being so heavily down voted is that your comment adds nothing of value to our understanding of the issue at hand.

It is empirically of no value whether or not this person is "sticking their chest out" over "bettering a few teenagers at a shitty job." What's valuable is understanding that relegating something this crucial to such a position can harm the long term prospects of a company and this article brings that issue to light.

That said, all accomplishments are relative as is the emotional pride someone feels over them. Sebastian Thrun can be bested at even his best by von Neumann at his worst, does that mean Thrun shouldn't take pride in his work? Nope. Life is complicated. Feel happy about what you can and let the rest be.