Most Americans including those working in Ai believe that MIT is father of Ai. They don't even know that MIT approach to Ai was flawed and that it was Hinton figured it out. I don't think that they know who he is and that he was in fact father of current approach to Ai.
In any case, I don't know who they would choose to debate the case but I am sure there are knowledgeable experts on both side outside of commercial interest. People who own Ai stocks are definitely not qualified.