What you are suggesting was the norm 20-30 years ago. Major corporate research centers like Bell Labs and IBM Watson were the crown jewels of their respective corporate owners. Today, these programs are mere shells of their former selves.
Corporate America just doesn't have the stomach to fund fundamental research with a payback varying from years in the future (optimistically) to never (pessimistically). In fact, we have exactly the opposite trend -- university researchers have taken on all kinds of applied research projects that would have been considered far too commercial in the past. In turn, the universities are looking to license out their IP portfolios and take stakes in companies founded by their students and faculty to raise more cash.
Corporate America just doesn't have the stomach to fund fundamental research with a payback varying from years in the future (optimistically) to never (pessimistically). In fact, we have exactly the opposite trend -- university researchers have taken on all kinds of applied research projects that would have been considered far too commercial in the past. In turn, the universities are looking to license out their IP portfolios and take stakes in companies founded by their students and faculty to raise more cash.