National Instruments is a multibillion dollar corporation that does not need to stick its neck out for “bigfoot stories”. After noting more than 150 replications, they recently concluded that with so much evidence of anomalous heat generation...
Conclusion • There is an unknown physical event and there is a need of better measurements and control tools. NI is playing a role in accelerating innovation and discovery.
The difference is that NI did not stick its neck out as far. NI talks about "unknown physical event" and the need for better instrumentation to analyze what's happening.
Mitsubishi is saying, on its own corporate website, that one of their scientists has observed unambiguous LENR activity. They are reporting transmutation of elements, in their own internal research. That's a big difference. They are putting their name and reputation in on LENR being very real.
It’s interesting that you say, “When heavy-hitters like Mitsubishi and Toyota start announcing results, it’s time to grab a cup of coffee and pay attention. “ But science is true whether or not someone is a heavy hitter. The Wright brothers unlocked the secrets of controlled flight, while the heavy hitters of their day completely failed. But on in an engineering sense, rather than a scientific sense, heavy hitters are required to attract the money needed for rapid development. It is a requirement for engineering but not for science. The science behind these experiments is long established. The engineering is just at its beginning phase.