As a CMU grad it was kind of a gut punch when I heard about this. However, I'm confident that the CMU robotics program will be just fine in the long run.
The thing that worries me more is if this makes universities afraid of partnering with companies like Uber in the future.
I'm a CMU grad as well. And CMU has a long and storied history of being raided for talent like this. 40 at once is unusually big, but this story plays out regularly.
It's good for the profs, it's mostly good for the school, and it's part of why we have such a good reputation in industry -- so it's good for alums like you and me personally, as well.
With that said, sure, 40 is a lot. But the Robotics Institute will recover.
I think some increased consideration of public/private partnerships can only be a good thing. They generally seem to benefit the private side of the partnership from this example and others.
They can be afraid if they want. What are they going to do about it? Faculty will want to do it. If the administration forbids that, they will not attract good faculty.
The thing that worries me more is if this makes universities afraid of partnering with companies like Uber in the future.