At one point, Google was also interested in pouring lots of money into making Python faster, and they shifted those resources away.

I think what always ends up failing here is that, as others have stated, they won't make breaking API changes, in particular those in charge of driving Python forward are extremely hesitant to break the C API for fear of losing packages that have make Python so popular.

I would imagine, if the leadership was willing to put in the elbow grease to help those key packages along the changes when they happen, they could do it, but I understand that its not always that simple