HN user
I wonder how large a factor student debt is when people consider the one or the other. A guaranteed liability can be a powerful motivator for finding guaranteed income.
(Although if you think that a job at a big company is guaranteed income, you've never worked at a big company going through any kind of hard times!)
Other posters show an inability to engage in a sufficient level of abstraction. Original post is an interesting question that has nothing to do with AI, Google, or Safari.
The point is that at a startup (especially the two guys and a laptop variety) you do absolutely everything yourself, while at a big company you are supported by IT, QA, custodial services, etc, etc.
The interesting question is whether there exist jobs for which that support is worth the money and freedom one gives up working at the large company.