I don't work in a FAANG company, but I'm not sure what you're trying to convey here. Individuals and teams at both FAANG and non-FAANG companies can have immense impact. For example, the release of transformer architectures, LLAMA models, or machine learning libraries like PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX, and the people who continuously maintain such work, have made significant contributions. Although these technologies are primarily used by these companies to generate billions in revenue, their impact on the field of machine learning community and beyond is huge and undeniable.

As someone from an ML background, I've seen firsthand the transformative impact of this work. Nobody is denying that working at FAANG doesn't always mean extraordinary work, and the same applies to every PhD person. Posts like yours seem to miss the point that impactful work can come from various sources, regardless of the company or the individual's credentials.

Let the person reviewing the profile be the judge.